Jonathan Chen

Background

Jonathan Chen graduated with an M.A. degree in Southeast Asian Studies from NUS. He subsequently worked in the Indonesia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) as an Associate Research Fellow.

During his time at RSIS, his research covered a multitude of topics related to foreign policy as well as national and regional politics of Indonesia. After repeated research trips to West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo in the midst of the Indonesian elections of 2018/2019, he authored a book chapter titled “The 2018/2019 elections in West Kalimantan province and its aftermath: historical legacies, identity politics, and the politics of partition”.

He also has an abiding interest in the Chinese diaspora of the archipelago, particularly of Timor-Leste, and had co-written a monograph titled "Cina Timor: Baba, Hakka, and Cantonese in the Making of Timor" with Douglas Kammen.

Asian Languages

Jonathan is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and proficient in Bahasa Indonesia. He is currently learning Burmese.

Research Interests

Jonathan is interested in going beyond the confines of the nation-state to look at borderlands and frontiers that cut across national and regional boundaries. In particular, he is interested in developing new conceptions of regional space that can shed light on topics such as transnational mobilities, ethnic formation, evolution of the state, frontier economies, citizenship and identities.

His current research compares the Sino-Burmese and Indo-Burmese borderland regions and tries to incorporate the lenses of a historian, the outlook of a geographer and the sensitivity of a social anthropologist.

Recent Publications

Chen J. Representing Chinese Indonesians: Pribumi Discourse and Regional Elections in Post-Reform Indonesia. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs. August 2021.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/18681034211036716