Biography
Dr Pichamon Yeophantong is Head of Research and Associate Professor at the Centre for Future Defence and National Security, Deakin University at the Australian War College. She also leads the Responsible Business Lab and the Environmental Justice and Human Rights Project, which are funded by an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship. In 2022, Pichamon was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council as an Independent Expert, serving as the Member from Asia-Pacific States on the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
As a political scientist and China specialist, Pichamon conducts research into Chinese foreign policy and, specifically, the social and environmental impacts of Chinese overseas investment in the developing world. She also teaches and conducts field-based research on business and human rights, and more broadly, on the political economy of sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific. Pichamon has previously held academic positions at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney and Canberra), Princeton University, and the University of Oxford, among other institutions.
In addition to these roles, Pichamon has served as a consultant on human rights, development, and security issues to a range of local and international NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, and government agencies. She sits on the Board and Research Committee of Jubilee Australia Research Centre; the Advisory Committee of the Australian Water Partnership; and the Executive Committee of the Women In International Security Australia. She is also a Senior Research Fellow (non-resident) at the Wong MNC Center.
Pichamon has delivered over 400 keynotes, invited talks, and public lectures on human rights, environmental governance, and Indo-Pacific politics since 2010, including at a UN Human Rights Council Session, an ASEAN Regional Forum Workshop, and the Australian Institute of International Affairs’ National Conference. Pichamon is currently working with civil society and other local partners on a series of funded initiatives that seek to support the resilience of women leaders and environmental human rights defenders in the Asia-Pacific.
In recognition of the social impact of her work, Pichamon was awarded the 2018 Australia ‘Future Leader’ Prize by the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and was named a ‘human rights fighter’ by the 2020 Advance Awards.
Pichamon completed her PhD and MA at the Australian National University as an inaugural China Institute Scholar and Hedley Bull Scholar, and her BA at Thammasat University as a King Bhumipol Scholar. In addition to native fluency in Thai, she holds advanced language certificates in French, Japanese, Lao, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish, among a few others.
Read more on Pichamon's profileUnits taught
AWC764 Research Capstone (Defence and Strategic Studies Course)
AWC757 Research Capstone Training (Defence and Strategic Studies Course)
AWC707 Research Capstone (Australian Command and Staff Course)
Knowledge areas
Research Areas
o Chinese politics and foreign policy
o Politics and government in Southeast and Northeast Asia
o Cultures of humanitarian action in Asia
o Political economy of sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific
o Environmental politics and governance, including water and transboundary rivers
o Business and human rights, including cross-border investment regulation, human rights and environmental due diligence, and gender-based violence prevention
o Civil society activism and social movements
o Non-Western International Relations (IR) theory
o Statecraft simulation and pedagogy
o Global governance, including international development
Other Areas of Expertise
o Political economy analysis (PEA)
o Conflict and development analysis (CDA)
o Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) methodologies
o GEDSI (gender equality, disability, and social inclusion) responsive and context-sensitive policy and program design
Projects
Dr Yeophantong's research is or has been supported by major grants and fellowships from a range of institutions and organisations. These include the Australian Research Council (Discovery Early Career Researcher Award); Duke University (Global Asia Initiative); United Nations Environment Programme (with Not1More); Australia-ASEAN Council; International Rivers; Oxfam; American Friends Service Committee; CARE Australia; Stockholm Environment Institute (with Karen Delfau et al.); Nanyang Technological University (ASEAN-Canada Senior Fellowship); Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (inaugural Taiwan Fellowship), among others.
Publications
F Cai, P Yeophantong
(2022), pp. 207-220, The Routledge Handbook of Global Development, London, Eng., B1
China as a 'Partial' Environmental Great Power
P Yeophantong, E Goh
(2022), pp. 71-94, Great Powers, Climate Change, and Global Environmental Responsibilities, Oxford, Eng., B1
The routledge handbook of global development
K Sims, N Banks, S Engel, P Hodge, J Makuwira, N Nakamura, J Rigg, A Salamanca, P Yeophantong
(2022), London, Eng., A7
A Relational Reflection on Pandemic Nationalism
P Yeophantong, C Shih
(2021), Vol. 26, pp. 549-572, Journal of Chinese Political Science, Netherlands, C1
Y Jiao, P Yeophantong, T Lee
(2021), Vol. 9, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, C1
Fanrong Meng, Zitao Chen, Pichamon Yeophantong
(2020), pp. 193-223, Designing Governance Structures for Performance and Accountability: Developments in Australia and Greater China, Acton, A.C.T., B1
P Yeophantong
(2020), Vol. 42, pp. 85-117, Contemporary Southeast Asia, C1-1
Chinese Assertiveness and the Business of Politics in the South China Sea Dispute
Pichamon Yeophantong
(2020), pp. 45-55, Australian Naval Review, Canberra, A.C.T., C1
China and international theory: The balance of relationships
C Shih, C Huang, P Yeophantong, R Bunskoek, J Ikeda, Y Hwang, H Wang, C Chang, C Chen
(2019), London, Eng., A1
The origins and evolution of humanitarian action in Southeast Asia
P Yeophantong
(2019), pp. 73-92, Asia-Pacific Perspectives on International Humanitarian Law, Cambridge, Eng., B1
Not just 'ugly America'? Understanding Southeast Asian perceptions of the United States
P Yeophantong
(2018), pp. 54-70, Handbook on the United States in Asia: Managing Hegemonic Decline, Retaining Influence in the Trump Era, Cheltenham, Eng., B1
River activism, policy entrepreneurship and transboundary water disputes in Asia
P Yeophantong
(2017), Vol. 42, pp. 163-186, Water International, London, Eng., C1
Conversations with confucius (551-479 BCE)
P Yeophantong
(2016), pp. 13-21, The Return of the Theorists: Dialogues with Great Thinkers in International Relations, London, Eng., B1
China's Hydropower Expansion and Influence Over Environmental Governance in Mainland Southeast Asia
Pichamon Yeophantong
(2016), pp. 174-192, Rising China's Influence in Developing Asia, Oxford, Eng., B1
China and Disaster Governance: Assessing the Domestic Sources of a Global Responsibility
P Yeophantong
(2016), Vol. 21, pp. 241-255, Journal of Chinese Political Science, C1
China's lancang dam cascade and transnational activism in the mekong region: Who's got the power?
P Yeophantong
(2014), Vol. 54, pp. 700-724, Asian Survey, C1-1
Governing the world: China's evolving conceptions of responsibility
P Yeophantongy
(2013), Vol. 6, pp. 329-364, Chinese Journal of International Politics, C1-1
Going global responsibly? China's strategies towards "sustainable" overseas investments
C Maurin, P Yeophantong
(2013), Vol. 86, pp. 281-303, Pacific Affairs, C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
No Funded Projects at Deakin found
Supervisions
No completed student supervisions to report