Academic Profile : Faculty
Duncan McCargo
Professor, School of Social Sciences
External Links
Duncan McCargo is Professor of Global Affairs at NTU.
He works mainly on the comparative politics of Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, on which he has published widely. Duncan hails from the North of England, and has lived and worked in six other countries. All his degrees are from the University of London: after a BA in English (from Royal Holloway), he did his graduate work in Southeast Asian studies and politics at SOAS.
He joined NTU from the University of Copenhagen, where he served as Director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and Professor of Political Science from 2019 to 2023. Duncan previously held professorial appointments at the University of Leeds and Columbia University. At Leeds, he twice headed the School of Politics and International Studies, and co-supervised 30 PhD students to successful completion. At Columbia he co-founded the New York Southeast Asia Network.
His books include the award-winning Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand (Cornell 2008), as well as Fighting for Virtue: Politics and Justice in Thailand (Cornell 2019) and Future Forward: The Rise and Fall of a Thai Political Party (co-authored, NIAS Press 2020). Duncan has also written on politics and the media in Asia more broadly, as well as a standard introductory textbook on Japan.
He works mainly on the comparative politics of Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, on which he has published widely. Duncan hails from the North of England, and has lived and worked in six other countries. All his degrees are from the University of London: after a BA in English (from Royal Holloway), he did his graduate work in Southeast Asian studies and politics at SOAS.
He joined NTU from the University of Copenhagen, where he served as Director of the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies and Professor of Political Science from 2019 to 2023. Duncan previously held professorial appointments at the University of Leeds and Columbia University. At Leeds, he twice headed the School of Politics and International Studies, and co-supervised 30 PhD students to successful completion. At Columbia he co-founded the New York Southeast Asia Network.
His books include the award-winning Tearing Apart the Land: Islam and Legitimacy in Southern Thailand (Cornell 2008), as well as Fighting for Virtue: Politics and Justice in Thailand (Cornell 2019) and Future Forward: The Rise and Fall of a Thai Political Party (co-authored, NIAS Press 2020). Duncan has also written on politics and the media in Asia more broadly, as well as a standard introductory textbook on Japan.
Comparative politics of Southeast Asia, especially Thailand; politics and the media; insurgencies and low-intensity conflicts; political protests; justice and politics; electoral politics
Awards
George Smith Prize for top BA student in English, University of London, 1986.
Inaugural Bernard Schwartz Book Prize from Asia Society, 2009, for Tearing Apart the Land.
Honorary Doctorate in Thai Studies from Mahasarakham University, 2010.
Inaugural Bernard Schwartz Book Prize from Asia Society, 2009, for Tearing Apart the Land.
Honorary Doctorate in Thai Studies from Mahasarakham University, 2010.
Fellowships & Other Recognition
Resident, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, 2015-16.
President (elected), European Association for Southeast Asian Studies, 2013-17.
Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship, 2011-14
Elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK), 2010-present.
Resident at Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, 2010
Visiting Senior Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, NUS, 2006-07.
Leverhulme Trust Fellow, Cambodia, 2004-05
Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies of the UK, 2002-04.
President (elected), European Association for Southeast Asian Studies, 2013-17.
Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship, 2011-14
Elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK), 2010-present.
Resident at Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, 2010
Visiting Senior Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, NUS, 2006-07.
Leverhulme Trust Fellow, Cambodia, 2004-05
Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Studies of the UK, 2002-04.