Pon Souvannaseng

Pon Souvannaseng

  • Assistant Professor, Global Studies
  • Wilson China Fellow, Wilson Center
  • Asia Scholar, Mansfield Foundation
  • Non-Residential Fellow, East-West Center Washington, D.C.
  • Committee Member - GLS Engagement Committee
  • Bentley U. Liberal Studies Major - Political Economy of Development Concentration Coordinator
  • Master of Research London School of Economics & Political Science
  • Master of Science London School of Economics & Political Science
  • Ph.D. London School of Economics & Politic
  • Bachelor of Arts Tufts University

Teaching Interests

Comparative & International Political Economy
International Development - Politics, Public Policy & Management
Political Economy of Development
Development Finance
East/Southeast Asian/African Political Economy
International Relations & Comparative Politics
Energy, Infrastructure & Environmental Politics
Research Methods (Qualitative and Quantitative)

Research Interests

International Development; Global Governance; Development & Public Finance; Infrastructure / Energy / Sustainability & Climate Governance Politics; East/Southeast Asian Political Economy; Post-Colonial History & Theory; Comparative & International Political Economy

Consulting/Practice Interests

Southeast Asian Politics & Economy
Energy & Infrastructure Issues in Developing / Emerging Countries
Financialization & Development

Bio

Pon Souvannaseng has a doctorate from the London School of Economics & Political Science. A political economist by training, she researches the intersection of private and public sector actors in comparative global infrastructure lending and energy development in Asia and Africa. She is particularly interested in the financialization of infrastructure and South-South asymmetric dependency. Pon has a strong interest in how the political economy of development, international affairs, and environment and energy research intersect. Pon has held a Mansfield-Luce Asia Fellowship (2020-2022), a Wilson Center China Fellowship (2021), an APSA Asia Scholarship (2019-2021), and is a Non-Resident Visiting Fellow of the East-West Center, Washington DC. Her research has been supported by US Fulbright, UK Research & Innovation, Japan Foundation and Bentley Research Council grants. She has served as a researcher at the UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) & ASEAN Labour Secretariat. She is a Research Affiliate of the Centre for Crisis Studies & Mitigation at the University of Manchester. Pon is a Network B Organizer for the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) and Board Member of the Thai, Lao, Cambodia (TLC) Studies Group of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS).

Professional Memberships

  • Association for Asian Studies 2022-03-01 - Present
  • Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics 2021-12-01 - Present
  • International Studies Association 2020-09-01 - Present
  • Association for American Geographers 2019-06-01 - Present
  • American Political Science Association 2019-05-01 - Present
  • Development Studies Association 2018-07-01 - Present
  • Association for Southeast Asia Studies (UK) 2018-01-01 - Present

    • Awards and Honors

  • Thai, Lao, Cambodia Studies Group - Designated Research Panel Award 2023, Association for Asian Studies - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia (TLC) Studies Group
  • Bentley Research Council Grant, Bentley Research Council
  • Bentley Faculty Affairs Committee Grant, Bentley Faculty Affairs Committee
  • Wilson China Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Center
  • East-West Center DC - Non-Residential Asia Fellow 2020, East West Center, Washington DC - Japan Foundation - US Embassy, Tokyo
  • Mansfield-Luce Asia Scholar 2020-2021, Mansfield Foundation / Henry Luce Foundation
  • American Political Science Association Asia Fellow, American Political Science Association
  • International Federation for University Women Recognition Award, International Federation for University Women
  • Fulbright Independent Research Grant, US Department of Education
  • South-South Young Laureate Fellowship, CLACSO-CODESRIA-APISA

    • Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions

    Journal Articles

  • Souvannaseng, P. (2024). Fast Finance and the Political Economy of Catastrophic Dam Collapse in Lao PDR: The Case of Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy. Pacific Affairs, (97) 2 (Link)
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). Liquidated: US/Japan-Chinese Rivalry, Financial Crises, and Explaining Shifts in Hydropower Finance Regimes in the Mekong. Asian Perspective Winter 2021 (Link)
  • Markkanen, S., Plummer Braeckman, J., Souvannaseng, P. (2020). Mapping the evolving complexity of large hydropower project finance in low and lower-middle income countries. Green Finance, (Volume 2) 02 (Link)
  • Souvannaseng, P., Plummer Braeckman, J., Markkanen, S. (2020). Mapping the evolving complexity of large hydropower project finance in low and lower-middle income countries. FutureDAMS Working Paper 007, (FutureDAMS Working Paper) 07 (Link)
  • Souvannaseng, P. Institutional Poaching: Sub-Regional Rivalry and the Politics of Parallel Governance Building Along the Mekong. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs Forthcoming
  • Souvannaseng, P. Blending or Banking Towards ‘Bankability’? Sino-OECD Export Finance Regimes, Divergent Risk Appetites and the Global Infrastructure Market. Review of Political Economy Forthcoming

    • Books

  • Souvannaseng, P. (2026). Fast Finance: Searching for Patient Lending in an Impatient World Forthcoming

    • Book Chapters

  • Souvannaseng, P. (2024). Infrastructure Finance Regimes Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Laos. Routledge UK: Routledge Forthcoming
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2021). Sino-African Hydropower Projects in Comparative Perspective Hydropower in Southwest China: Drivers & Impacts. Cham (Springer): Palgrave: International Political Economy Series (Link)

    • Exhibitions

  • Souvannaseng, P. (2023). “Post & Art Compilation: Retrospective - Jam-bor-ee”

    • Other Scholarly Work

  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). ‘Evidence-based Policymaking’ or Epistemic Manufacturing? US-China Geopolitics, Politicized Water Scholarship and The Fight for Narrative Control Along the Mekong. Wilson Center China Fellowship - 2022 Essays on China, (2022 Essays on China) .
  • Souvannaseng, P., Tenkorang, E., Enu-Kwesi, F., Bendu, E. K. (2022). Working Paper: In the Red: Lending Regimes & the Political Economy of Dam Financing in Ghana (1960-2020). GDI FutureDAMS Working Paper Series 18 (Link).
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2020). US-Japanese Strategic Dissonance and Southeast Asian Infrastructure Finance. Asia Pacific Bulletin (Link).
  • Souvannaseng, P.Bridging the Divide: Aligning & Strengthening US-Mekong Relations through Data Diplomacy. Mansfield Foundation, (Mansfield Luce Asia Policy Scholars Research Vol. 1) .

    • Presentations

  • Souvannaseng, P. (2024). “Panel Presentation: '(Hydro)-Boom, Doom, Gloom? Reflections on Alternative Developmentalism in the Mekong'” Presented at the GLS Department / Valente Center Bentley A&S Faculty Research Talk Series Bentley University - Adamian
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2024). “'Reservoir Politics: Contested Waters & Contested Narratives Along the Mekong'” Presented at the Association for Asian Studies Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference Seattle
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). “Crypto by Fiat (Order): State-Sanctioned Mining at the Crypto-Hydro Nexus and Resource Mobilization at the Frontiers of Global Sovereign Debt in Lao PDR” Presented at the Development & Change Journal / ISS (Institute for Social Studies, Erasmus University) Development & Change Forum Workshop on Debt Crisis in the Majority World The Hague, Netherlands
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). “Cambridge Invited Speaker; Talk title:  'Physical to Digital Transitions & Development Agendas in Contemporary Southeast Asia'” Presented at the University of Cambridge / Newnham College University of Cambridge Margaret Anstee Centre for Global Studies Development Finance Reading Group Seminar - Guest Lecture Newnham College, Cambridge, UK
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). “Reflections on the Mansfield-Luce 2022 Asia Study Tour & Policy Insights” Presented at the Mansfield Foundation Mansfield-Luce Symposium on Capitol Hill Washington DC
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). “SAIS-SEALS Invited Talk:  From Hydro to Crypto? Physical to Digital Transitions & Development Agendas in Contemporary Southeast Asia” Presented at the Southeast Asian League of Studies (JHU SAIS) Johns Hopkins University SAIS - SEALS Lecture Series Washington DC
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). “Workshop Presentation:  'Crypto by Fiat: State-Sanctioned Mining at the Crypto-Hydro Nexus and Resource Mobilization at the Frontiers of Global Sovereign Debt in Lao PDR'” Presented at the APSA Asia Program American Political Science Association Asia Publication Workshop Bangkok, Thailand
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2022). “Paper presentation:  'From Contention to Complicity: Comparative Policy Shifts, Reversals, and Continuity in State-based Dam Building Policy in the Lower Mekong'” Presented at the AAS Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference 2022: Panel on 'Change, Contestation and Hydropower Dam Development in the Lower Mekong River Basin' Honolulu
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2021). “Fast Finance: Who Gives a Dam? Disaster-by-Design & the Political Economy of Dam Failure in Lao PDR” Presented at the American Political Science Assocation APSA 2021 Seattle/Virtual
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2021). “Paper/Panel presentation: 'Post-Socialism the Mekong Way: Sino-Investment in the Clmv Countries'” Presented at the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics SASE 2021 Amsterdam
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2021). “Fast Finance: Who Gives a Dam? The US, Japan & China: Debating Hydropower Infrastructure Quality & Quantity Along the Mekong” Presented at the International Studies Association ISA2021 Las Vegas
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2020). “Southeast Asian National Responses to Covid-19” Presented at the ASEAS(UK) ASEASUK Webinar London / Southeast Asia (Global)
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2020). “On Unequal Footing: Strategic Dissonance & Failures of Competition in Infrastructure Promotion” Presented at the East West Center Washington DC East West Center Washington DC Indo-Pacific Political Economy and Trade Virtual Seminar Washington DC (Virtual)
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2019). “Fast Finance: Who Gives a Dam? Perils and Pitfalls of Asymmetric South-South Finance” Presented at the London School of Economics LSE Inclusive Economies Seminar Series: Financialization, Development & Economic Inclusion London
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2019). “Paper Presentation:  Sub-Regional Rivalry, Institutional Poaching & Parallel Governance Along the Mekong: From Liberal to Revisionist Institutionalism” Presented at the East West Center Washington DC East West Center Washington DC Indo-Pacific Political Economy and Trade Seminar Washington DC
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2019). “Searching for Patient Lending in an Impatient World: Infrastructure, Finance and the Illusion of Capital” Presented at the Johns Hopkins SAIS Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies African Studies Seminar Washington DC
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2019). “Paper Presentation: Institutional Poaching & Regional Subversion Along the Mekong” Presented at the APSA American Political Science Association Asian Workshop Penang
  • Souvannaseng, P. (2019). “Infrastructure as Public Good or Portfolio Asset: Financing Development and Development Finance Along the Mekong and Ayeyarwaddy” Presented at the Columbia University / NYSEARN Columbia University SIPA / NY Southeast Asia Research Network Public Lecture New York City

    • Service

    Service: Department

  • Committee Member for Bentley GLS Search Committee for IPE Position 2024-09-01 - 2024-12-01
  • Department Representative for Bentley Open House - Global Studies Booth 2024-11-03 - 2024-11-03
  • Committee Member for GLS / BSLCE - Student Careers Panel (Organized by GLS Faculty-Student Liaison Committee) 2024-02-21 - 2024-02-21
  • Committee Member for GLS Hiring Committee 9/1/21 - 12/31/21
  • Committee Member for GLS Engagement Committee 8/26/20 - Present
  • Committee Member for Committee for GLS Statement on Anti-Racism 6/6/20 - 6/15/20

    • Service: Public

  • Briefing for US Air Force (GOPAC) 2024-12-03 - 2024-12-03
  • Guest Speaker for Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies 2023-08-29 - 2023-08-29
  • Attendee, Meeting for Fulbright University Vietnam & Mansfield Foundation 2023-07-20 - 2023-07-22
  • Briefing for Australian Embassy, Thailand 2022-08-24 - 2022-08-24
  • Guest Speaker for Mansfield Foundation 2022-10-13 - 2022-10-14
  • Attendee, Meeting for Mansfield Foundation 2022-09-13 - 2023-07-22
  • Guest Speaker for US State Department - Stimson Center Mekong Dam Monitor Launch 2020-12-20 - 2020-12-20

    • Service: Professional

  • Attendee and Early-Career Mentor for Southeast Asia Research Group Winter Conference 2024-12-06 - 2024-12-07
  • Conference/Workshop Organizer for Association for Asian Studies 2024-03-15 - 2024-03-15
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for Asia Society NYC 2024-03-14 - 2024-03-14
  • Committee Member for Thailand, Laos, Cambodia Studies Group - Association for Asian Studies 7/1/23 - 7/1/28
  • Committee Member for Burmese Study Group - AAS 3/25/22 - Present
  • Conference/Workshop Organizer for Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics 12/1/21 - Present
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for Australia National University / Chiang Mai University 2022-07-19 - 2022-07-20
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) 2021-12-02 - 2021-12-02
  • Panel Organizer for International Studies Association 2021-04-07 - 4/7/21
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for US Stimson Center - US Department of State 2020-12-15 - 12/15/20
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for Chatham House Asia Pacific 2020-11-06 - 11/6/20
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for Association for Southeast Asian Studies UK 2020-07-02 - 7/2/20
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for East-West Center Washington DC 2020-04-29 - 4/29/20
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for London School of Economics - Inclusive Economies Seminar Series 2019-10-31 - 10/31/19
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for East West Center - Washington DC 2019-09-30 - 9/30/19
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) 2019-09-30 - 9/30/19
  • Invited Lecture/Presentation for Columbia University - NY Southeast Asian Network 2019-04-30 - 4/30/19
  • Committee Member for Association for Southeast Asian Studies (UK) 1/1/18 - 2021-01-14

    • Service: Ph.D. Advising

  • Supervisor 2024/03 - Present

    • Service: University

  • Committee Chair for A&S Faculty Research Talk Series 2024-09-01 - Present
  • Guest Speaker for Bentley International Film Festival 2023-09-28 - 9/28/23
  • Guest Speaker for Bentley Model UN Club 2024-04-24 - 2024-04-24
  • Committee Member for Faculty Affairs Committee 5/5/23 - 5/5/26
  • Contributed input as faculty member for Bentley Office of Diversity and Inclusion 2022-09-30 - 9/30/22
  • Concentration Coordinator for Bentley Liberal Studies Major - Political Economy of Development Concentration 7/21/20 - 2024-03-13