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Asian Institute of Technology
Faculty Profile
Faculty Profile Duanghathai Buranajaroenkij 2025–Present | Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) • Assistant Professor, G e n d e r a n d Devel opm ent Studies • Program Chair, G D S (2026–Present)
2011–2024 | Mahidol University, Thailand • Institute of H u m a n Rights a n d P e a c e Studies (IHRP) • Associate Professor (2024); Assistant Professor (2021–2024) • Former Deputy Director & Head, Peacebuilding Center
2025–Present | Regional/International Affiliations • A S E A N University Network–H u m a n Rights Education (AUN-HRE) • A R C Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against W o m e n (C E VA W)
Education • Ph.D., G e n d e r a n d Devel opm ent Studies - Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand • M.A., Conflict Analysis a n d M a n a g e m e n t - Royal R o a d s University, C a n a d a
Research Expertise
Research Expertise ➢ Gender, Peace & Security
WPS • peacebui l di ng • conflict transformation ➢ Gender, Human Right & Violence G B V • political conflict • state-society relations ➢ Research to Policy Feminist research • knowl edge production • policy e n g a g e m e n t
co-
➢ Geographical focus: Thailand a n d Southeast Asia
Her research examines h o w gender, power, a n d h u m a n rights sha p e experiences of conflict a n d violence, a n d how research generated with affected communities c a n contribute to policy c h a n g e a n d social justice.
Research Project Highlights
Research Project Highlights 1. Thailand’s Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan Project description: • Policy-e n g a g e d research supporting the development of Thailand’s first National Action Plan on Women, P ea c e a n d Security (WPS). Aim an d Objectives: • Generate evidence a n d facilitate inclusive consultations to inform a nationally relevant WPS framework reflecting the experiences a n d priorities of women a n d conflict-affected communities. Research Outcomes: • Development of Thailand’s first National Action Plan on Women, P ea c e a n d Security, including strategic priorities, expected outcomes, indicators, and implementation arrangements. Expected Social Impact: • Strengthen women’s participation in p e a c e and security decision-making a n d promote more inclusive, gender-responsive, a n d human securityoriented approaches across government and society. SD G of focus:
Research Project Highlights
Research Project Highlights
2. Women as Insider Mediators in Thailand’s Pro-Democracy Movements Project
description: Thailand
c as e study under an international research project led by the Berghof Foundation, Germany, with comparative studies in Iraq, Thailand, a n d Venezuela. The project examined women’s often invisible roles as insider mediators in peaceful protest movements and their contributions to dialogue, violence prevention, and conflict transformation.
Aim an d Objectives: Explore how w om en contribute to preventing violence a n d facilitating dialogue, a n d examine the gender dynamics that enable or constrain their roles as mediators.
Research Outcomes: M a d e visible women’s often informal roles as negotiators, mediators, a n d facilitators who help prevent violence a n d bridge divides between movements, the state, a n d communities. Expected Social Impact: Greater recognition a n d support for women as insider mediators, strengthening their participation in nonviolent conflict transformation a n d democratic dialogue. SD G of focus:
Research Project Highlights
Research Project Highlights 3. Women, Peace and Security on the Thailand–
Myanmar Border
Project description: •
Research o n the security experiences, displacement and leadership of wo men affected by conflict in Mya n ma r a n d living along the Thailand–Mya n ma r border.
Aim a n d Objectives: •
Understand women’s c h a n g i n g security needs a n d examine how their experiences c a n inform national a n d regional WPS responses.
Research Outcomes: •
Field-b a s e d evidence from wo m e n leaders a n d organizations on displacement, protection, participation a n d cross-border security.
Expected Social Impact: •
M a k e the voices of displaced a n d conflict-affected wo me n more visible in policy discussions in Thailand a n d Southeast Asia.
S D G of focus:
Research Project Highlights
Research Project Highlights 4. Women’s Participation in Peace Processes in Southeast Asia
Thailand • Myanmar • Philippines
Project description: •
Research examining h o w w o m e n participate in, influence, a n d seek to transform p e a c e processes in Southern Thailand, Myanm ar, a n d B a n g s a m o r o / M i n d a n a o in the Philippines. The research looks b e y o n d the num ber of w o m e n at negotiation tables to ask whether w o m e n h a v e meaningful opportunities to s h a p e a g e n d a s , decisions, a n d the structures through which p e a c e is negotiated.
Aim a n d Objectives: •
To understand the barriers that limit women’s meaningful participation, d o c u m e n t the strategies w o m e n a n d wom en’s networks use to g a i n political space, a n d identify conditions that enabl e more inclusive a n d gender-responsive p e a c e processes.
Research Outcomes: •
Research demonstrates that meaningful participation requires more than a d d i n g w o m e n to existing structures. P e a c e processes themselves n e e d to address male-d om inated decisionmaking, militarized a p p r o a c h e s to security, g e n d e r stereotypes, a n d unequal power relations.
Expected Social Impact: •
Contribute e v i d e n c e for more inclusive a n d gender-responsive p e a c e processes, strengthen wom en’s influence in p e a c e a n d security decision-making, a n d support implementation of the Wom en, P e a c e a n d Security a g e n d a in Southeast Asia.
S D G of focus:
Research Project Highlights
Research Project Highlights 5. Gendered Politics of Buddhist Protectionism Thailand • Sri Lanka • M y a n m a r
Project description: • Thailand c a s e study within a larger com parative research project led by M o n a s h University, Australia a n d supported through USAID, examining the g e n d e r dynam ics of exclusionary Buddhist protectionism across Thailand, Sri Lanka, a n d M yanm ar.
Aim a n d Objectives: • Examine h o w g e n d e r norms, identities, a n d pow er relations shape, support, or chal l enge exclusionary Buddhist protectionism, including the relationship betw een misogyny, nationalism, anti-Muslim narratives, a n d violence.
Research Outcomes: • The research s h o w e d h o w g e n d e r inequality, Buddhist nationalism, a n d exclusionary politics intersect, identifying a com parative “Buddhist Femonationalist Continuum” across Thailand, Sri Lanka, a n d M yanm ar. Outputs included a research brief a n d a peer-reviewed article in Politics & Gender.
Expected Social Impact: • Contribute e v i d e n c e for more inclusive a n d gender-responsive p e a c e processes, strengthen wom en’s influence in p e a c e a n d security decision-making, a n d support implementation of the Wom en, P e a c e a n d Security a g e n d a in Southeast Asia.
S D G of focus:
Contributions to the field
Contributions to the field Policy E n g a g e m e n t & C a p a c i ty Strengthening o n Gender, P e a c e a n d Security
Partner:
Ministry of Social Development a n d H u m a n Security (MSDHS) / Department of Women’s Affairs a n d Family Development (DWF) • UN Wo m e n Thailand
Role:
• Advocacy
• Training • Facilitation • Stakeholder Dialogue
Workshop
Contribution: Building shared understanding of
WPS a n d gender equality, strengthening government–civil society collaboration, a n d supporting localization from national policy to local practice.
Contributions to the field
Contributions to the field Advisor, partner a n d trainer, Thailand’s Women, Pe a c e a n d Security (WPS) Network
Contributions to the field
Contributions to the field AUN-HRE Regional Human Rights & P e a c e Education
What she teaches Gender & Peacebuilding: • G e n d e r • H um a n Rights • Conflict Transformation • Strategic Peacebuilding • Feminist P e d a g o g y Participants University lecturers a n d educators from institutions across Southeast Asia, working in h u m a n rights, p e a c e , gender, development, a n d related fields. Contribution: Involved since 2021 Strengthening the c a p a c i ty of university educators across the region a n d bringing gender and peace perspectives into hum a n rights education a n d teaching practice.
Contributions to the field
Contributions to the field Building Regional Research Collaboration & Knowledge Co-production C o - initiated regional com m issioned research themes to bring together established and emerging scholars across A S E A N to generate policy-relevant k n o w l e d g e o n gender, h u m a n rights, a n d p e a c e .
Regional collaboration: SHAPE-SEA – Strengthening Hu m an Rights a n d P e a c e Research a n d Education in Southeast Asia A C W C – A S E A N Commission o n the Promotion a n d Protection of the Rights of W o m e n a n d Children M ahidol University Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)
2025-2026 Research Themes:
Charting Progress: Gender, H u m a n Rights, P e a c e a n d Sustainable Devel opm ent in Southeast Asia (SEA) Chal l enging Patriarchal Institutions & Strengthening Anti-Harassment Responses in ASEAN
Contributions to the field
Contributions to the field Dialogue Facilitation & Conflict Transformation Over two d e c a d e s of designing a n d facilitating di al ogue processes, primarily in Thailand’s D e e p South, where protracted violent conflict has created d e e p political, religious, a n d community divisions. Contribution ➢ Create safe a n d structured s p a c e s
for difficult conversations ➢ Rebuild
com m unication a n d trust a m o n g actors w h o m a y otherwise h a v e little or no contact Strengthen local capacities for nonviolent conflict management and collaborative problem-solving
Recognition •
2022 – Outstanding W o m a n A w a r d in A d v a n c i n g the C a u s e of Peac e, Ministry of Social Devel opm ent a n d H u m a n Security, Thailand.
•
2024 – Recognized by ASEAN-IPR / AS E AN W o m e n for P e a c e Registry; featured in the A S E A N W o m e n in P e a c e Processes Digital C a t a l o g under Conflict Mitigation .
➢ C o n n e c t community-level dialogue
with broader Track 2 a n d Track 3 peacebuil ding
Contributions to the field
Contributions to the field
Contributor, Peace News | 2025–Present Write accessible commentary that connects community a n d research-b a s e d knowledge with wider public a n d policy debates o n nonviolent a p p r o a c h e s to conflict, peacebuilding, human rights, a n d Women, P e a c e a n d Security.
Future Research
Future Research
Wom en , P e a c e a n d Security
Localization
Outward Looking: Rights to Development a n d Migration
Ending Violence Against W o m e n (EVA W)
Institutional Anti-Harassment Mechanisms
From Bystanders to Active Interveners