Dr Julian C. H. Lee

Senior Lecturer in International Studies

Ph.D. (Anthropology, Melbourne)

B.A. (Hons) (Anthropology, Melbourne)

BSc (Psychology, Melbourne)

Email: julian.lee@monash.edu

Phone No.: +603 5514 6261

Fax No:+603 5514 6365

Room No.: 2-6-29

I received my PhD in Anthropology at The University of Melbourne in 2007. My dissertation research focused on civil society and pro-democracy activists in Kuala Lumpur, the tools they made use of to advance their work, and the conditions under which civil society coalitions formed.

Subsequent to my PhD, I have continued to examine civil society, but with a focus on those who seek to advance women’s representation in Parliament in Malaysia, and those that seek to advance sexuality rights and liberties in Kuala Lumpur.

My focus has, however, not been confined to Malaysia. In 2007-2008, I undertook an Australian Studies Fellowship from the Australia-Malaysia Institute. During that fellowship, I undertook research in Melbourne and Sydney on how NGOs sought to assist the settlement of refugees and migrants, and in particular, the use they made of the discourses of ‘social capital’ and ‘multiculturalism’.

In 2009, I undertook an Economic and Social Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship at the School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, UK. During that time, I gave numerous talks around Europe and prepared the manuscript for my book, Islamization and Activism in Malaysia (2010) and my edited volume The Malaysian Way of Life (2010), as well as a number of journal articles and book chapters. Also during that time, I was a Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden, The Netherlands.

Since 2008, I have been involved in an international collaborative research project coordinated by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR) (see current research below). My new book, Policing Sexuality: Sex, Society and the State, stems out of my participation in this project.

At the School of Arts and Social Sciences, I am involved in a number of activities and organisations. As well as being the Honours Coordinator and advising the Monash University Volunteer Program, I have coordinated the annual Monash NGO Fair, which draws some of Malaysia’s most significant non-government organisations to Monash University. At the NGO Fair, these organisations have booths, give talks about their work, and speak with students about internship opportunities. Since its beginning in 2008, the Monash NGO Fair has become a firm fixture in the School’s and the University’s calendar.

Also at Monash University, my teaching and research achievements have been recognised by a Dean’s Award and a PVC’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and two PVC's awards for Excellence in Reseach.

Units Taught  

Honours/Research Degrees Supervision  

Research Interests

• Sexuality and its regulation by States
• Religion and ethnic identity (especially with respect to Malaysia)
• Inter-faith, inter-ethnic and multicultural discourses and processes (especially with respect to Malaysia and Australia)
• Civil society and democracy
• How global discourses and events are engaged with at the local and individual level
• Tertiary education in the contemporary world <link>

Current Research/Writing Projects

• I am currently completing the Malaysian arm of an international collaborative research project organised by Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies (CSBR) and Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) – New Ways. This larger project which involves eight research teams from across the Muslim world seeks to map changes with respect to sexuality in respective Muslim-majority countries. The Malaysian research team, which I coordinate, has sought to describe and account for increased State sanctioned policing of sexual morality in Malaysia.
• Writing projects of mine that await completion and publication include books chapters and journal articles that treat women’s rights campaigns in Malaysia, LGBTIQ activism in Kuala Lumpur, inter-faith discourses in Malaysia and Indonesia, and Australian multiculturalism. My book, Policing Sexuality, was published in October 2011.

Publications 

Books

Lee, Julian C. H. (2011) Policing Sexuality: Sex, Society and the State. London: Zed Books.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) Islamization and Activism in Malaysia. Singapore: ISEAS.

Edited Books

Yeoh Seng Guan and Lee, Julian C. H. (in press) Fringe Benefits: Essays on Malaysian Film, Art and Culture by Benjamin McKay. Petaling Jaya: SIRD.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) The Malaysian Way of Life: Perspectives on a Nation’s Culture and Politics. Shah Alam: Marshall Cavendish.

Book Chapters

Lee, Julian C. H. (2011) Ziarah - dalam -Dialog di Malaysia, in P.B. Kleden and R. Mirsel (eds) Menerebos Batas-Merobohkan Prasangka. Maumere: Penerbit Ledalero.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2011) Shopping for a Real Candidate: aunty Bedah and the Women's candidacy Initiative in the 2008 Malaysian General elections, in A.Fleschenberg and C.Derichs (eds) Women and Democracy in Asia: A Springboard for Democracy ?Berlin: LITVerlag.

Lee, Julian C. H. (forthcoming) The Creation of Sexual Dissidence: The Case of Seksualiti Merdeka, in Yeoh S. G. (ed.) Global Cities: Kuala Lumpur. London: Routledge.

Lee, Julian C. H. (forthcoming) Citizenship in the City: Political Impacts of Kuala Lumpur Architecture and Malaysian Law, in Yeoh S. G. (ed.) Global Cities: Kuala Lumpur. London: Routledge.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) Against the Order of Nature, in Lee, J. C. H. (ed.) The Malaysian Way of Life. Shah Alam: Marshall Cavendish.

Journal Articles

Lee, Julian C. H. (2011) Innovation, the Public Sphere and the Women's Rights Agenda in Malaysia: The Example of the Women's Candidacy Initiative in Malaysia.Indonesia and the Malay World 39(115): 357-72.

Pardy, M.Pardy and Lee, Julian C.H. (2011) Using Buzzwords of Belonging: In Defence of Multiculturalism and Social Capital in Australia.Journal of Australian Studies 35(3): 279-98

Lee, Julian c.H. (2011) Sexuality and the Syariah Courts in Malaysia.Alternative Law Journal 36(2):123-4.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) Oversanctification, Autonomy and Islam in Malaysia. Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions 11(1): 25-43.

Lee, Julian C. H., Wong Chin-Huat, Wong, Melissa, and Yeoh Seng Guan (2010) .) Elections, Repertoires of Contention and Habitus in Four Civil Society Engagements in Malaysia’s 2008 General Election. Social Movement Studies 9(3): 293-309.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) Mobilizing for Social Change in Muslim Societies Amidst Political Turmoil and Conservatism. Development 52(2): 239-45.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) The Fruits of Weeds: Taking Justice at the Commemoration of the Twentieth Anniversary of Operasi Lalang in Malaysia. The Round Table 97(397): 591-601.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2007) Barisan Nasional Political Dominance and the General Elections of 2004 in Malaysia. Südostasian Aktuell – Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 2: 39-66.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2005) The Narrative Imperative, Anthropological Forum 15(2): 115-130.

Book Reviews

Lee, Julian C. H. (2011) Review of ‘Submitting to God: Women and Islam in Urban Malaysia’, by Sylva Frisk (2009), in The Journal of the Anthropological Institute.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) Review of ‘Malaya’s Secret Police’, by Comber, L. (2008), in The (IIAS) Newsletter 51: 30.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) Review of ‘Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)’, by Vanderbilt, T. (2008), in Off The Edge December/ issue 60: 86-87.

Lee, Julian C. H., and Butterworth, David (2005) Review of ‘I am Dynamite’, by Rapport, N. (2003), in The Australian Journal of Anthropology 16(1):149-150.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2005) Review of ‘Advertising Cultures’, edited by Dewaal, M. T. and Moeran, B. (2003), in The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11(1): 153-4.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2004) Review of ‘Ethnicity and Nationalism’, by Eriksen, T. H. (2002), and ‘Ethnicity’, by Fenton, S. (2003), in The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 2004 10(2): 456-7.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2004) Review of ‘Making Sense of Collectivity’, edited by Malesevic, S. and Haugaard, M. (2002), in Critique of Anthropology 2004 24(2): 231-2.

Conference Papers (abridged)

Lee, Julian C. H. (2011) ‘Seksualiti Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur: The Creation of Sexual Dissidence’, Conference of the Australian Anthropological Society, University of Western Australia (5-8 July 2011).

Lee, Julian C. H. and tan b. h. (2010) ‘Sexuality Rights in Malaysia’, The 2^nd Congress of The Asian Association of Women’s Studies. Universiti Sains Malaysia (10 December).

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) Discussion and Book Launch of Islamization and Activism in Malaysia. School of Arts and Social Sciences Seminar Seminar Series. Monash University, Malaysia.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) ‘Islam, Democracy, and the Ritual of Elections in Southeast Asia’, School of Arts and Social Sciences Seminar Seminar Series. Monash University, Malaysia.

tan b. h. and Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) 'The Mechanisms of the Policing of the Morality of Muslims in Malaysia', International Association for the Sexuality, culture and Society Hanoi Conference.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) ‘Shopping for a Real Candidate: Aunty Bedah and the Women’s Candidacy Initiative in the 2008 Malaysian General Elections’, Conference: Women and Politics in Asia: A Springboard for Democracy? University of Hildesheim, Germany.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) ‘Shopping for a Real Candidate’ during Malaysia’s 2008 General Elections: The Public Sphere(s), Realms of Efficacy and the Contribution of a Political Existential Anthropology’, Conference: Association of South-East Asian Studies in the United Kingdom. Swansea University, Wales.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) ‘On Democracy in Malaysia: Academia and Civil Society’, Workshop on Democratization in Malaysia. Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) ‘Contemporary Islam in Malaysia’, Masterclass: Islam and Muslims in the Modern World. Universiteit Leiden.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) ‘Moral Policing in Malaysia’, Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) ‘Mak Bedah and an Existential Phenomenological Political Anthropology’, Department of Anthropology Seminar Series, University of Kent, UK.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) ‘Civil society reactions to Moral Policing in Malaysia’, 11^th International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development. Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID). Cape Town.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) ‘An Existential Phenomenological Political Anthropology…For Dummies’, School of Arts and Social Sciences Seminar Seminar Series. Monash University, Malaysia.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) ‘Directions for research into civil society, Islam and climate change in Southeast Asia’, Workshop on Islam in Southeast Asia. Universiti Malaya and Monash University. 

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) ‘Moral Policing in Malaysia’, Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia. Sebel Hotel, Melbourne.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) ‘Rereading The Harvard Redbook in a New Time and Place: Social Sciences and the Liberal Arts for Malaysia Today’, Social Science Education and the Management of Diversity in Multicultural Societies: Malaysia and Australia Compared. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Monash University.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2007) ‘Elections as Ritual’, Inside Asia, Monash Asia Institute, Monash University.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2006) ‘Democracy and Exclusion: Islam, Citizenship and the Law in Malaysia’, Anthropology Seminar Series, The University of Melbourne.

Non-academic Publications (abridged)

Lee, Julian C. H. (2011) Educating in the Internet Age. New Straits Times (January 2011). <link>

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) Hurray for Pessimism: On the 150^th Death Anniversary of Arthur Schopenhauer. The Nation (Sri Lanka) 19 September: 4.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) Happy Birthday, Alfa Romeo. The Edge 23 October: Op18.

Sutcliffe, Richard J., Lewis, E. Douglas, and Lee, Julian C. H. (2010) Fire in the Valley. Off The Edge March/ issue 63.

Lee, Julian C. H., Lewis, E. Douglas (2010) Young Americans, Young Malaysians: Rereading The Harvard Red Book in contemporary Malaysia. Off The Edge February/ issue 62: 26-29.

Pardy, Maree, and Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) Multiculturalism and Social Capital – Not At Odds. Mosaic October/ issue 23: 36-37.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) An Inspiration to Young Activists, in Kua K. S. (ed.) Toni Kasim: Many Shades of Good, A Tribute. Petaling Jaya: SUARAM: 65-67. 

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) Transformers, Culture and Gender: More than meets the eye. Off The Edge July/ issue 55: 28-30.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) In the beginning, there was participation: Reclaiming the public space as the fog of euphoria clears. Off The Edge March/ issue 51: 21.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2009) Ringing Faith. Off The Edge February/ issue 50: 24-25.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) Echoes of Cronulla in Camden: Riots in the Australian and Malaysian National Consciousnesses. Dissent 26(autumn/winter): 50-53.

Lee, Julian C. H., Sutcliffe, Richard J. (2008) Stellar droppings. Off The Edge Dec/ issue 48: 76-77.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) A First in Malaysia: Seksualiti Merdeka, Sexual Rights Festival. CSBR E-News 2(2): 1 & 4.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) If one of us ain’t free…. The Sunday Star, ‘Starmag’ 14 September: SM8-9.

Lee, Julian C. H. (2008) Commemorating the 20^th anniversary of Operasi Lalang, Aliran Monthly 27(9): 24-25, 29.