Stranger-Kings in Southeast Asia and Elsewhere

In Southeast Asia, kings have often been strangers: either foreigners, or strangers in the sense of boasting genealogies which separate them from their subjects and link them with an exotic outside world. A historical pattern whereby rulers tend to be foreigners, and it is more or less accepted that they should be foreigners, is also found in other parts of the world. This workshop will examine the forms, origins, and logic of stranger-kingship in a variety of settings from Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

Keynote speech:
Professor Marshall Sahlins (University of Chicago)
‘Depending on the kingness of strangers'

Orientation lecture:
Professor Felipe Fernandez-Armesto (Tufts University)
‘Stranger than kings: interlopers in power in the Americas and Europe'

Contact:
David Henley (henley@kitlv.nl)

Venue:
5 June (morning): keynote speech and orientation lecture at LIPI,
Jalan Jenderal Gatot Subroto 10,
Jakarta 12190

5 June (afternoon) and 6-7 June
(whole days): workshop at KITLVJakarta,
Jalan Prapanca Raya 95A,
Jakarta 12150

Information:
David Henley
KITLV Leiden
henley@kitlv.nl

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)
Asia Research Institute (ARI), National University of Singapore
Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV)
International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS)