The Democracy Discourse Series (DDS) project held its second public forum in collaboration with Faculty of Political Science of Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand last August 23, 2024, with the theme, “Sustaining the pushback against autocratization.”
The founder of the opposition Future Forward Party, Mr. Thanathorn Juanroongruangkit, delivered the keynote address, delving on stories of struggles of key democracy figures in Belarus, the Philippines, Iran, and Thailand, who stood their ground and fought against those who trampled on the fundamental liberties of citizens. He ended his address by quoting the late South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, “if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” The address was followed by an animated exchange between Mr. Juanroongruangkit and the Thammasat University students, which reflected on Future Forward Party’s experiences and their to build trust among their members while staying true to the message of reform to sustain people’s support to their goals towards democratization.
The public forum was then followed immediately by final presentations of the Democracy Discourse Fellows in the afternoon until the morning of 24th. Through their presentations, each of the public intellectuals was not only able to share the milestones of their democracy projects, but has also communicated the importance of their advocacy to the larger public. The two-day discussions that followed each public intellectual’s presentation has also surfaced the shared passion of the grantees, not only to constructively critique the projects, but to explore possibilities of future collaboration.
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