Announcement: 04.07.2025 – Online Lecture by Nutthanit Chamchueai (MA): "The State's Ideological Installation at Thai Public School Flagpoles and Student Resistance"

4. Juli 2025, 14:00 Uhr, von AAI Webmaster

Foto: Ministry of Education, Thailand, cropped

We kindly invite you to this online lecture in English language on Friday, July 4th, 2025, at 14:00–16:00 h (CEST/MESZ).

Topic:
    "The State’s Ideological Installation at Thai Public School Flagpoles and Student Resistance"

Speaker:
    Nutthanit Chamchueai (MA)

Affiliation:
    Faculty of Social Sciences, Naresuan University

Date/Time:
    July 4^th, 2025 (Friday), 14:00 – 16:00 (CEST/MESZ)

Language:
    English

Zoom Link:
    https://uni-hamburg.zoom.us/j/64563521222?pwd=OEdSbENCOUV2Ynl5ZUdnNG5mM1pwQT09

Zoom Meeting-ID:
    645 6352 1222

Zoom Passcode:
    hgtlecture

About this lecture:

This study examines the daily morning flag ceremony in Thai public schools as a space where the state instills ideology and where students respond with resistance. It aims to analyze how the Thai state promotes nationalism, religion, and moral citizenship through this school ritual, as well as how students react—both within the school environment and on digital platforms. Drawing on Althusser’s (1971) theory of ideological state apparatuses, the study employs document analysis and ethnographic methods.

The findings reveal that state ideologies are articulated through policy, such as the "Desired Characteristics" outlined in the national curriculum, and through repeated practices like lining up, saluting the flag, praying, pledging allegiance, receiving moral guidance, and participating in award ceremonies. The flagpole area is arranged with symbolic elements that reinforce the hierarchical relationship between teachers and students.

In response, students engage in both overt and subtle forms of resistance—for example, by performing rituals without sincerity or cautiously expressing their views online. These acts reflect ongoing struggles over power, identity, and ideology between the state and youth in contemporary Thai society.

Brief profile:

Nutthanit Chamchueai is a Ph.D. candidate in Social Development at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Naresuan University, Thailand. She is a recipient of the Royal Golden Jubilee Ph.D. Scholarship (RGJ–20), funded by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). Her dissertation focuses on youth, state ideology, and social resistance in Thailand.

We would like to thank the Hamburg Society for Thai Studies for the cooperation. 

You can also find all this information on our Instagram account and on our flyer.