Phoborisut, Penchan

Dr. Penchan Phoborisut was a broadcast news producer and reporter before starting her Ph.D program in Communication. Her dissertation, The Visualization of Protests in Digital Age: The Rhizomatic Activism in Thailand addresses how self-organized activism in Thailand reconfigures the spectacles of people’s resistance in the digital age. Based on Deleuze, Guattari and Latour’s concepts of network, her dissertation examines the force of visuals of protests, introduced and disseminated on social media platforms, different networks of resistance—assemblages of people, cultural practices, symbols from popular culture, visuals, and alliances. The findings of this dissertation show that activism in the digital age is rhizomatic, adaptive to suppression and unfolding in ever-changing transformations. In addition, her recent research examines the violence of the rhetoric of “returning the happiness to the people,” reterritorializing the space of public protests staged after the 2014 coup d’état in Thailand. Other works include the examination of visuals that generated extra-linguistic conversations in politics.  

Select Conference Presentations:

Phoborisut, P. (2017, June). Re-configuring conversations in politics with the Facebook-native political cartoon. To be presented at the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) in Asia Conference, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.

Phoborisut, P. (2017, May). Public Performances as Assemblages: Contesting the Narrative of Thailand’s 2010 Crackdown. To be presented at the International Communication Association (ICA) Conference, Political Communication Division, San Diego, CA.

Phoborisut, P. (2017, February). The Violence of “Returning Happiness”: The case of Thailand’ ruling junta’s attempts to bring happiness and peace to its people. Presented at the Western States Communication Association (WSCA) Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.

Phoborisut, P. (2015, November). Mockingjay, mocking the junta: The anti-coup activism in Thailand. Presented at the National Communication Association, Visual Communication Division, Las Vegas, NV.

Phoborisut, P. & Sun, Y. (2015, November). The news frames in communicating natural disaster: A study on the 2011 floods in Thailand. To be presented at the National Communication Association, Asian and Pacific American Caucus, Las Vegas, NV.

Phoborisut, P. (2014, November). Memes as political participation: A case study on Thailand. Presented at the National Communication Association, Visual Communication Division, Chicago, IL.

Phoborisut, P. (2014, November). The discursive kitsch at protest sites: Thai grassroots protesters “talk back” during the 2010 crackdown. Presented at the National Communication Association, Asian and Pacific American Caucus, Chicago, IL.

Phoborisut, P. (2014, October). Anti-dam activism in the digital age and the absence of marginalized voices. Presented at the Council on Thai Studies Conference, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI.

Phoborisut, P. (2014, February). The metaphors of natural disasters. Presented at the Western States Communication Association, Environmental Communication Division, Anaheim, CA.