Fighting for Virtue: Justice and Politics in Thailand

by Duncan McCargo

Overview

Fighting for Virtue investigates how Thailand's judges were tasked by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) in 2006 with helping to solve the country's intractable political problems—and what happened next. Across the last decade of Rama IX's rule, Duncan McCargo examines the world of Thai judges: how they were recruited, trained, and promoted, and how they were socialized into a conservative world view that emphasized the proximity between the judiciary and the monarchy.

McCargo delves into three pivotal freedom of expression cases that illuminate Thai legal and cultural understandings of sedition and treason, before examining the ways in which accusations of disloyalty made against controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra came to occupy a central place in the political life of a deeply polarized nation. The author navigates the highly contentious role of the Constitutional Court as a key player in overseeing and regulating Thailand's political order before concluding with reflections on the significance of the Bhumibol era of "judicialization" in Thailand. In the end, posits McCargo, under a new king, who appears far less reluctant to assert his own power and authority, the Thai courts may now assume somewhat less significance as a tool of the monarchical network.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801449994
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2020
Series:	Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
Pages:	282
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Duncan McCargo is Director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and Professor of Political science at the University of Copenhagen. He is author of Tearing Apart the Land, which won the inaugural Bernard Schwartz Book Prize from the Asia Society in 2009.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction: Legalism and Revival of Treason
1. Privileged Caste?
2. Bench and Throne
3. Challenges to the Judiciary
4. Against the Crown?
5. Computer Compassings
6. Against the State
7. Crimes of Thaksin
8. Courting Constitutionalism
Conclusion: The Trouble Is Politics
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

Michael J. Montesano

Fighting for Virtue reflects Duncan McCargo's important and long recognized ability to identify matters of great salience and to interpret them in ways that have a lasting impact on the study of contemporary Thailand.

Thak Chaloemtiarana

Fighting for Virtue is quite detailed and rich, and will appeal to anyone interested in Thai politics. It should be assigned reading in courses on Thai politics, Southeast Asian comparative politics, and law courses.

Editorial Reviews

Fighting for Virtue makes an original contribution to critical debates about the rule of law in Southeast Asia. It will be an essential point of reference for anyone interested in understanding the morbid politics of the final decade of King Bhumibol's reign. For both these reasons, it deserves to be read widely.

Contemporary Southeast Asia

This is an original, heavily researched, fascinating, highly readable, and ultimately frightening book.

Bangkok Post

Fighting for Virtue is a compelling text that portrays the dynamics of a complicated judiciary, a central player in the fractious political landscape of contemporary Thailand. It is highly recommended to readers of political anthropology, legal studies, history, political science and Southeast Asian studies.

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Duncan McCargo has tackled yet another fascinating aspect of Thailand's politics in Fighting for Virtue. McCargo treats the reader to an abundance of details, thoughtful analysis, and savvy observation. Overall, this book is an important contribution that will be cited for years to come.

Pacific Affairs

"Fighting for Virtue makes an original contribution to critical debates about the rule of law in Southeast Asia. It will be an essential point of reference for anyone interested in understanding the morbid politics of the final decade of King Bhumibol's reign. For both these reasons, it deserves to be read widely."

contemporary southeast asia

"This is an original, heavily researched, fascinating, highly readable, and ultimately frightening book."

Bangkok Post - Chris Baker

"Fighting for Virtue reflects Duncan McCargo's important and long recognized ability to identify matters of great salience and to interpret them in ways that have a lasting impact on the study of contemporary Thailand."

Michael J. Montesano

"Fighting for Virtue is quite detailed and rich, and will appeal to anyone interested in Thai politics. It should be assigned reading in courses on Thai politics, Southeast Asian comparative politics, and law courses."

Thak Chaloemtiarana