Overview

Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age is about why ordinary people in a democratizing state oppose democracy and how they leverage both traditional and social media to do so. Aim Sinpeng focuses on the people behind popular, large-scale anti-democratic movements that helped bring down democracy in 2006 and 2014 in Thailand. The yellow shirts (PAD-People's Alliance for Democracy) that are the focus of the book are anti-democratic movements grown out of democratic periods in Thailand, but became the catalyst for the country's democratic breakdown. Why, when, and how supporters of these movements mobilize offline and online to bring down democracy are some of the key questions that Sinpeng answers. While the book primarily uses a qualitative methodological approach, it also uses several quantitative tools to analyze social media data in the later chapters. This is also one of the few studies in the field of regime transition that focuses on anti-democratic mobilization and takes the role of social media seriously.

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9780472132355

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Reviews

Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age: The Yellow Shirts in Thailand is a key text for understanding Thailand's tragic descent into authoritarianism... Its attempt to bring theoretical order to the messy realities of the unsettled state of Thailand is something to welcome and engage. - International Journal of Asian Studies-- International Journal for Asian Studies

Winner of the 2022 Asian Studies of Association of Australia Early Career Book Prize-- ASAA Early Career Book Prize Theoretically rich and supported by abundant empirical data, this book unravels why the Thai middle class mobilized against democracy and how social media assisted in accelerating this antidemocratic process... this is an important book for those interested in the current political situation in Thailand and how social media has presented contentious political issues through everyone's smart phones - Pacific Affairs--Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pacific Affairs The relevance of economic change, and of the new role played by social media, are of particular interest in this analysis, which provides a cogent portrait of Thai politics and class conflict. ...Sinpeng's assessment of what causes governments to rise and fall, and why some citizens may welcome antidemocratic regime change, is compelling. Summing Up: Recommended. --CHOICE-- Choice Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age: The Yellow Shirts in Thailand is a key text for understanding Thailand's tragic descent into authoritarianism... Its attempt to bring theoretical order to the messy realities of the unsettled state of Thailand is something to welcome and engage. - International Journal of Asian Studies-- International Journal for Asian Studies

Winner: Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) 2022 Early Career Book Prize-- ASAA Early Career Book Prize Winner of the 2022 Asian Studies of Association of Australia Early Career Book Prize-- ASAA Early Career Book Prize Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age: The Yellow Shirts in Thailand is a key text for understanding Thailand's tragic descent into authoritarianism... Its attempt to bring theoretical order to the messy realities of the unsettled state of Thailand is something to welcome and engage. --International Journal of Asian Studies-- International Journal for Asian Studies Theoretically rich and supported by abundant empirical data, this book unravels why the Thai middle class mobilized against democracy and how social media assisted in accelerating this antidemocratic process... this is an important book for those interested in the current political situation in Thailand and how social media has presented contentious political issues through everyone's smart phones --Pacific Affairs--Pavin Chachavalpongpun Pacific Affairs Who killed Thailand's democracy? In this exceptionally well-researched book, Aim Sinpeng explains how a mass movement of the country's middle class came to subvert Thailand's electoral institutions and enabled democratic breakdown. Sinpeng takes the reader inside the social media ecosystem where digital tools are empowering anti- democratic voices. Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age provides a powerful account of how democracies die in the digital age, and offers unsettling lessons for scholars and activists around the globe. --Jeremy Menchik, Boston University -- Jeremy Menchik, Boston University Considering the limited number of studies on anti-democratic movements, this book is a significant contribution to the social movements literature and provides a deeper understanding of the contentious politics of two political networks and their impacts on Thailand's democratic polity. --The International Spectator-- The International Spectator The relevance of economic change, and of the new role played by social media, are of particular interest in this analysis, which provides a cogent portrait of Thai politics and class conflict. ...Sinpeng's assessment of what causes governments to rise and fall, and why some citizens may welcome antidemocratic regime change, is compelling. Summing Up: Recommended. --CHOICE-- Choice

Author Information

Aim Sinpeng is Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the University of Sydney.

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