Vilashini Somiah
Biographic Data
| ID | 4105490 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Vilashini Somiah |
| GIVEN NAMES | Vilashini |
| FAMILY NAME | Somiah |
| SIGNATURE | SOMIAH V |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Malaya |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6558-1331 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 7 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 7 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
From ‘sumandak’ to beauty queen
Weaving flexible gender scripts and cultural transmission
Divine Mandates and Political Realities
This article analyses the role of religious symbolism and religiosity during The Gambia's autocracy (1994-2017) and its democratic transition (2017-2023). Former autocratic ruler, Yahya Jammeh, exploited religious symbolism to legitimise his authority, leading to crackdowns, extrajudicial punishment, and political repression. Drawing on community engagements and interviews with 61 civil-society members, political actors, community stakeholders, a…
"Leaderless" resistance? An anatomy of female leadership in Orang Asli grassroots movements
This article unpacks community-level female leadership among Malaysia’s indigenous Orang Asli community. The power dynamics of this community’s relationship with state institutions have been uneven. Critics accuse the authorities of infantilizing the community, through gendered and patriarchal behaviour (for example, male government officers only interact with male heads of communities). Based on the fieldwork including seven interviews with fema…
The Sea is Indigenous ‘Land’ Too
SOJOURN is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of social and cultural issues in Southeast Asia. It publishes empirical and theoretical research articles with a view to promoting and disseminating scholarship in and on the region. Areas of special concern include ethnicity, religion, tourism, urbanization, migration, popular culture, social and cultural change, and development. Fields most often represented in the journal are anthrop…
Sabah from the Ground
Sabah's 2020 election was Malaysia's pandemic election. While attention has centred on the impact the election had on the increase of COVID-19, this collection brings together scholars, journalists and social scientists who were on the ground on Sabah to analyse what happened, why, and the broader implications of the outcome for Sabah and Malaysian politics. The book is the first in-depth study of a Sabah election. It is multidisciplinary, with a…
Irregular Migrants and the Sea at the Borders of Sabah, Malaysia
The Sea is Indigenous ‘Land’ Too
SOJOURN is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of social and cultural issues in Southeast Asia. It publishes empirical and theoretical research articles with a view to promoting and disseminating scholarship in and on the region. Areas of special concern include ethnicity, religion, tourism, urbanization, migration, popular culture, social and cultural change, and development. Fields most often represented in the journal are anthrop…
Divine Mandates and Political Realities
This article analyses the role of religious symbolism and religiosity during The Gambia's autocracy (1994-2017) and its democratic transition (2017-2023). Former autocratic ruler, Yahya Jammeh, exploited religious symbolism to legitimise his authority, leading to crackdowns, extrajudicial punishment, and political repression. Drawing on community engagements and interviews with 61 civil-society members, political actors, community stakeholders, a…
Sabah from the Ground
Sabah's 2020 election was Malaysia's pandemic election. While attention has centred on the impact the election had on the increase of COVID-19, this collection brings together scholars, journalists and social scientists who were on the ground on Sabah to analyse what happened, why, and the broader implications of the outcome for Sabah and Malaysian politics. The book is the first in-depth study of a Sabah election. It is multidisciplinary, with a…
Irregular Migrants and the Sea at the Borders of Sabah, Malaysia
The Sea is Indigenous ‘Land’ Too
SOJOURN is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the study of social and cultural issues in Southeast Asia. It publishes empirical and theoretical research articles with a view to promoting and disseminating scholarship in and on the region. Areas of special concern include ethnicity, religion, tourism, urbanization, migration, popular culture, social and cultural change, and development. Fields most often represented in the journal are anthrop…
"Leaderless" resistance? An anatomy of female leadership in Orang Asli grassroots movements
This article unpacks community-level female leadership among Malaysia’s indigenous Orang Asli community. The power dynamics of this community’s relationship with state institutions have been uneven. Critics accuse the authorities of infantilizing the community, through gendered and patriarchal behaviour (for example, male government officers only interact with male heads of communities). Based on the fieldwork including seven interviews with fema…
Divine Mandates and Political Realities
This article analyses the role of religious symbolism and religiosity during The Gambia's autocracy (1994-2017) and its democratic transition (2017-2023). Former autocratic ruler, Yahya Jammeh, exploited religious symbolism to legitimise his authority, leading to crackdowns, extrajudicial punishment, and political repression. Drawing on community engagements and interviews with 61 civil-society members, political actors, community stakeholders, a…
From ‘sumandak’ to beauty queen
Weaving flexible gender scripts and cultural transmission
Asian Studies and History (5 works) · Geography (3 works) · Political science (3 works) · Social science (3 works) · Sociology (3 works) · Agency (philosophy (2 works) · Indigenous (2 works) · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs (2 works) · Law (2 works) · Law (2 works)