Four aspects related to the social and culture are chosen as they demonstrate significant interconnections among society, culture and development. Southeast Asia contributes fruitful knowledge on how culturally plural countries dealing with those aspects in this globalised era.

First, Natural Resource Management (NRM) holds a pivotal role regarding the inseparable relation between people and natural resources, yet besides new development, the long-term complexities resulted from modernization, overexploitation or haphazard use, interests’ conflicts, such as between people and conservation principles, still exist.

Second, the relationship of society and digital technology has been given greater and previously unimaginable significance. Nevertheless, the changes are also followed by positive and negative consequences. Such encounters indeed reshape society, culture and economic. We witness people’s improved lives, more sophisticated public administration, good governance, inclusivity and democratisation. However, digital society also brings necessities on (cyber) security, discourse about personal and public boundaries, and the culture of consumption.

Third, taking the concept of ‘digital humanities’, it is also important to understand how contemporary culture, art, history and social sciences have been shaped by the revolution in industrial and communication technology. Similar to the classics social science that was born out of the observation of cultural changes in the 19th century from modernization, current development of art and social studies is spurred by technology progress.

Fourth, the COVID19 pandemic has brought a massive and long-term effects to people, including livelihood, social and cultural ties. It is crucial to understand the magnitude of the issues and how people overcome such challenges as it differs from one place to another and closely related to the social aspect and culture. A panel is also dedicated for vulnerable-marginalised-high risk groups, including poor people, women, people with disability and whose works easily exposure to the virus, refugees and traditional and indigenous community, etc.

Identities remain both an asset and a challenge for many countries in a nowadays globalized world. Most feuds, conflicts, and even wars are, quite often, linked to cultural, ethnic, or religious background. It is necessary to build global awareness of the diversity of humankind and responsibility for cultural, ethnic, and religious aspirations. In the political context, recognition over minority rights represents the primary principles of a free and democratic society. In addition to this is the issue of gender that still remains challenging within contemporary Southeast Asian societies. Thus, forging an inclusive form of citizenship would likely to be the important key to not only maintain social harmony but also to ensure the fulfillment of the rights of all citizens. While its discourse has been discussed around the world its realization and implementation remain challenging in many countries in Southeast Asia.

In line to this is the development of digital technology that has also disrupted religious practices and thus, in many cases, challenged the established traditional religious authorities. Recent religious authorities have arisen and been facilitated by the social media which pose challenges for their traditional counterparts, whether they need to adapt to or resist it. Nowadays, people learning religion not only through conventional institutions such as madrasah or Islamic boarding schools but also by accessing many sources on digital media such as YouTube. While many have questioned the qualifications of the religious teachers/preachers in social media, the fact that their contents have been accessed by many people and, to some extent, have been influential in shaping religious understanding is the fact that an no longer be undermined. It will be interesting here to identify and discuss how this new phenomenon might offer a new perspective for us in looking at the connection between religion, social media and popular culture that have facilitated the emergence of celebrity clerics and religious political entrepreneurs in contemporary Southeast Asia.

In a world where human development opportunities differ strongly, migration both domestic and international is an important option for many people to improve their living conditions. If managed well, migration is a catalyst for inclusive economic and social development for migrants itself, for communities, and countries of residence and origin. However, migration also has a dark side, as is shown by the many problems on migratory routes and by human interaction and also exploitation. For instance, we are now living through an era of pandemic COVID-19, intense turbulence, disillusionment and bewilderment. Deepening geopolitical tensions are transforming international relations, and political tribalism is revealing deep fissures within countries. The spread of exponential technologies is upending long-held assumptions about security, politics, economics and so much more. Additionally, a growing number of migrant and diaspora people are displaced by local condition, such as climate change, pandemic, local condition, or else. The ability to fully capture the potential of migration for sustainable development depends largely on the framework conditions, including appropriate protection of the human rights of migrants and Diasporas. A critical issue in the human development will be citizenship, diaspora, migration, global health, human security.

The political landscape of Southeast Asia has changed dramatically in the last decade. Democracy remains “the only game in town” in a number of region’s countries but its legitimacy as well as effectiveness have been under threat of predatory oligarchic network, military praetorianism, and sectarian violence. The region also witnessed the emergence of populist leaders that took repressive and unaccountable use of force as one of their political tools in silencing dissidents and opposition groups. Furthermore, security threats have also struck the region in fast pace and unpredictable forms. Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the region’s fragility –to not say, incapability- in overcoming such health crisis in a great scale. Strategic rivalries among extra–regional powers have also dragged the region into dangerous –yet probably inevitable- great power politics that might hamper the realization of “one identity, one community” in Southeast Asia. Against this background, it is important to pose a question whether the current political, economic, and security arrangements in Southeast Asia’s respective countries require comprehensive examinations in all their aspects. Thus, this panel attempts to examine, mainly, political change, state–society relations, and security dynamics in the region. Towards that end, this panel aims to bring forth alternative perspectives, trans–disciplinary modes of research, and innovative theoretical endeavour that could help us to better fathom the political development in contemporary Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asian Countries currently under challenges due to the on-going regional dynamics. Prevalent issues rise in this region whether the resident power can maintain their strategic sovereignty, either individually or collectively through ASEAN as regional institution. The Indo-Pacific as a mega-region consists of countries in Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean has brought about certain dilemmas for Southeast Asian countries in maintaining their capacity to influence the regional order. ASEAN leadership is therefore a huge question mark for many scholars and policy makers whether the coming Indo-Pacific region still belongs to the Southeast Asian countries and ASEAN as regional institution. Despite the great power rivalry between the US and China as the main feature of regional dynamics, economic-security nexus issues are crucial topics to be discussed since they will affect hedging strategy and foreign policy agenda in crafting regional order in the wider region of Indo-Pacific. Along with those agendas, there are border dispute management issues, infrastructure development, and maritime diplomacy as strategic issues in current Southeast Asia. Those issues are crucial in managing stability, connectivity, and rule-based international order in Southeast Asia. The Subtheme 9 is also going to discuss the current COVID-19 pandemic situation especially related to health diplomacy in the region. The final important topic for this subtheme is foreign policy of Southeast Asia countries in response to multiplex world order, since each of the issue is considered different from the vantage point of each country in the region.