Dr. Benjamin Baumann
Dr. Benjamin Baumann is an Assistant Professor at Heidelberg University's Institute of Anthropology, where he also coordinates the MA program in Sociocultural Anthropology. He joined the institute in April 2020, following a decade-long position as a lecturer and research associate at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin's Department of Southeast Asian Studies.
Benjamin's academic background encompasses sociocultural anthropology and Southeast Asian studies, culminating in a PhD from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His research adopts a transdisciplinary approach, integrating anthropology, religious studies, and cultural studies with methodologies from ethnography, sociology, and media studies. His work primarily focuses on rural lifeworlds, sociocultural identities, and local language games in the border regions between Thailand and Cambodia. He examines how spectral phenomena influence social imagination and communal senses of belonging in contemporary Thailand.
Benjamin's current research delves into the cultic significance of termite mounds, exploring the mutual relationships between humans and non-human entities as manifested in possession phenomena and mediumship rituals in Thailand's lower Northeast.
He made significant contributions to the field through various influential publications. Notable among them are:
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"The 'Soul' of the Tai Re-examined: The Khwan Concept and Tham Khwan Ceremony of the Tai-Speaking Peoples" (2023): In this edited volume, Benjamin revisits Barend Jan Terwiel's seminal work on the Khwan concept, offering new insights into Tai-speaking communities' spiritual practices.
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"Deities and Divas: Queer Ritual Specialists in Myanmar, Thailand and Beyond" (2022): Co-edited with Peter A. Jackson, this book explores the roles of queer ritual specialists in Southeast Asian religious contexts, shedding light on gender diversity and spiritual practices.
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"Social Ontology, Sociocultures, and Inequality in the Global South" (2020): Co-authored with Boike Rehbein, this work examines social structures and inequalities in the Global South, proposing a novel theorization of social ontology.
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"Reconceptualizing the Cosmic Polity: The Tai Mueang as a Social Ontology" (2020): This publication delves into the Tai Mueang concept, presenting it as a framework for understanding social and political organization in Tai societies.
These works collectively highlight Benjamin's interdisciplinary approach, integrating anthropology, religious studies, and cultural studies to deepen the understanding of Southeast Asian societies.
Publications
MONOGRAPHS
2020
On Centrism and Dualism. House Societies in Southeast Asia Reconsidered. Glienicke: Galda Verlag
2019
Ghosts of Belonging: Searching for Khmerness in Rural Buriram. Dissertation, Southeast Asian Studies, Berlin: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (microfiches)
EDITED VOLUMES
2023
The 'Soul' of the Tai Re-Examined: The Khwan Concept and Tham Khwan Ceremony of the Tai-Speaking Peoples. by Barend Jan Terwiel, Glienicke: Galda Press
CO-EDITED VOLUMES
2024
ไสยเวท เพศ ผี: ร่างทรงองค์เควียร์ในอุษาคเนย์. Peter A. Jackson and Benjamin Baumann (eds.), Bangkok: Matichon Books
Global Handbook of Inequality. Surinder Jodhka, Boike Rehbein, Benjamin Baumann et al. (eds.), Cham: Springer
2022
Deities and Divas: Queer Ritual Specialists in Myanmar, Thailand and Beyond. Peter A. Jackson and Benjamin Baumann (eds.), Copenhagen: NIAS Press
2020
Social Ontology, Sociocultures and Inequality in the Global South. Benjamin Baumann and Daniel Bultmann (eds.), New York: Routledge
2015
Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheit in Deutschland. Boike Rehbein, Benjamin Baumann et al. (eds.), Konstanz und München: UVK.
EDITORIAL OF JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUES
2020
International Quaterly for Asian Studies. 51 (3-4). Special Issue on New Area Studies and Southeast Asia (with Andrea Fleschenberg)
JOURNAL ARTICLES
2024
Das Miteinander von Menschen und Geistern in Thailand. Thailand Rundschau. 37 (2), pp. 53-60
2023
Was schulden wir unseren Forschungspartner*innen? Zu den Hintergründen eines Austauschprojektes mit dem Buriram Technical College. In: Thailand Rundschau. 36 (1), pp. 19-21
2022
Enunciating ambiguity: Thailand’s phi and the epistemological decolonization of Thai Studies. In: South East Asia Research. 30 (2), pp. 161-179
2020
Editorial: New Area Studies and Southeast Asia – Mapping Ideas, Agendas, Debates and Critique. In: International Quaterly for Asian Studies. 51 (3-4), pp. 5-16 (with Andrea Fleschenberg)
Small Places, Large Issues Revisited: Reflections on an Ethnographically Founded Vision of New Area Studies. In: International Quaterly for Asian Studies. 51 (3-4), pp. 99-129 (with Danny Kretschmer, Johannes von Plato, Jona Pomerance, Tim Rössig)
Same Same But Different: Ein romantische Dekonstruktion des paradoxografischen Trends in den Thai Studien. In: polylog. 43, pp. 101-130
2019
Geister, Hexen und Gespenster – Die Welt des thailändischen Comic-Künstlers Tawee Witsanukorn. in: Thailand Rundschau. 02/2019, pp. 75-80 (together with Niccolas Verstappen)
2018
Das animistische Kollektiv. Lévy-Bruhl, soziale Ontologien und die Gegenseitigkeit von Menschen und nicht-Menschen in Thailand. in: Zeitschrift für Kultur- und Kollektivwissenschaft. 4 (2), pp. 129-166
Soziale Ontologie, Soziokulturen, Ungleichheit und Kollektive. in: Zeitschrift für Kultur- und Kollektivwissenschaft. 4 (2), pp. 7-28 (together with Boike Rehbein)
Ein thailändischer Bram Stoker. in: Südostasien. 4/2018 (together with Nicolas Verstappen)
2014
From Filth-Ghost to Khmer-Witch: Phi Krasue’s Changing Cinematic Construction and its Symbolism. in: Horror Studies. 5 (2), pp. 183-196
2013
Tamnan Krasue: Constructing a Khmer Ghost for a Thai Film. in: Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. 14
Ein Khmer-Geist im Thai-Film. Geisterfilme, sozio-kulturelle Stereotype und thailändische Identität nach der Asienkrise. in: Südostasien. 4/2013, pp. 29-31
BOOK CHAPTERS
2025
"Was heißt eine Fremdsprache verstehen? Verstehen zwischen Sprachspielen, Lebensformen und sozialen Ontologien." In (Fremd-)Sprache und Qualitative Sozialforschung: Forschungsstrategien in mehrsprachig-interkulturellen Kontexten, edited by Cornelia Bading, Kerstin Kazzazi and Jeannine Wintzer, 133-158. Berlin: Springer Spektrum. (with Boike Rehbein)
2024
"Narrating progress: Developmental regimes in semi- and anti-colonial Southeast Asia." In Narratives, Nations and other World Products in the Making of Global History, edited by Jeremy Adelman and Andreas Eckert, 183-202. London: Bloomsbury. (with Vincent Houben)
"Decolonizing Understanding. Language and Translation in the Social Sciences." In Global Handbook of Inequality, edited by Surinder Jodhka and Boike Rehbein, 1443-1462. Cham: Springer. (with Boike Rehbein)
"Ethnography and Inequality." In Global Handbook of Inequality, edited by Surinder Jodhka and Boike Rehbein, 649-680. Cham: Springer. (with Sophie Strauß and Philipp Zehmisch)
2023
"Editor's Preface: The Former Monk's Magic", in: The 'Soul' of the Tai Re-Examined: The Khwan Concept and Tham Khwan Ceremony of the Tai-Speaking Peoples. by Barend Jan Terwiel, Glienicke: Galda Press, pp. vii-xii
2022
“Masters of the Underground: Termite Mound Veneration and the Mutuality of Chthonic and Human Beings in Northeastern Thailand”, in: Holly High (ed.), Stone Masters: Power Encounters in Southeast Asia. Singapore: NUS Press, pp. 132-166
“Buriram’s Possession Complex and the Growing Professionalization of Village Mediumship in Thailand’s Lower Northeast.” in: Bénédicte Brac de la Perrière and Peter A. Jackson (eds.), Spirit Possession in Buddhist Southeast Asia: A World Ever More Enchanted. Copenhagen: NIAS Press, pp. 253-291
“Introduction. Transgenderism, Homosexuality and Enchantment in Myanmar and Thailand: Queer Ritual Specialists in Efflorescing Spirit Possession Cults,” in: Jackson/Baumann (eds.), Deities and Divas: Queer Ritual Specialists in Myanmar, Thailand and Beyond. Copenhagen: NIAS Press (with Peter A. Jackson)
2020
“Introduction,” in: Benjamin Baumann and Daniel Bultmann (eds.), Social Ontology, Sociocultures and Inequality in the Global South. New York: Routledge, pp. 1-5 (with Daniel Bultmann)
“Rethinking the Social: Social Ontology, Sociocultures, and Social Inequality,” in: Benjamin Baumann and Daniel Bultmann (eds.) Social Ontology, Sociocultures and Inequality in the Global South. New York: Routledge, pp. 6-22 (with Boike Rehbein)
“Reconceptualizing the Cosmic Polity: The Tai Mueang as a Social Ontology,” in: Benjamin Baumann and Daniel Bultmann (eds.), Social Ontology, Sociocultures and Inequality in the Global South. New York: Routledge, pp. 42-66
“Thai Monsters - Phi Krasue: Inhuman Kiss (Mongkolsiri, 2019).” in: Simon Bacon (ed.), Monsters: A Companion. Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 101-109 “Thai Monsters - Phi Krasue: Inhuman Kiss (Mongkolsiri, 2019).” in: Simon Bacon (ed.), Monsters: A Companion. Oxford: Peter Lang, pp. 101-109
2018
“Ban Phi Pop.” in: Marie Ainslie and Kasia Ancuta (eds.) Thai Cinema: A Complete Guide. London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 64-66
“Krasue Sao.” in: Marie Ainslie and Kasia Ancuta (eds.) Thai Cinema: A Complete Guide. London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 52-54
“Krasue Valentine.” in: Marie Ainslie and Kasia Ancuta (eds.) Thai Cinema: A Complete Guide. London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 127-129
2017
“Tamnan Krasue: Constructing a Khmer Ghost for a Thai Film.” in: Pavin Chachavalpongpun (ed.) The Blooming Years: Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia. Kyoto: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, pp. 360-365
“Ewiges Feuer.” in: Lydia Hamann, Mirko Winkel and Karen Winzer (eds.) Finale Form: DeathLab, sieben Gespräche über Tod und Kunst. Berlin, 2017, pp. 32-47
2016
“The Khmer Witch Project: Demonizing the Khmer by Khmerizing a Demon.” in: Peter Bräunlein and Andrea Lauser (eds.) Ghost Movies in Southeast Asia and Beyond. Narratives, Cultural Contexts, Audiences. Leiden and Boston: Brill, pp. 141-183
2015
“Habitustypen.” in: Benjamin Baumann, Boike Rehbein et al. (eds), Reproduktion sozialer Ungleichheit in Deutschland. Konstanz und München: UVK, pp. 81-110
2013
“Einleitung.” in: Benjamin Baumann, Stefan Hoffmann and Maren Wilger (eds.), Der Tod im Kulturvergleich - Süd und Südostasiatische Perspektiven. Berlin: Südostasien Working Papers, No. 51. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, pp. 13-18
2007
“Relitik: Zur analytischen Untrennbarkeit von Religion und Politik im siamesischen Kontext.” in: Frederik Holst and Eva Streifenender (eds.) Myanmar. Berlin: Südostasien Working Papers, No. 32. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, pp. 47-61
WORKING PAPERS
2015
The Khmer Witch Project: Demonizing the Khmer by Khmerizing a Demon. Göttingen: DORISEA Working Paper Series, no. 19. University of Göttingen
2013
Der Tod im Kulturvergleich: Süd- und Südostasiatische Perspektiven. Benjamin Baumann, Stefan Hoffmann and Maren Wilger (eds.), Berlin: Südostasien Working Papers, no. 51. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
2010
On Centrism and Dualism - A Critical Reassessment of Structural Anthropology's Contribution to the Study of Southeast Asian Societies. Berlin: Südostasien Working Papers, no. 40. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
BOOK REVIEWS (INVITED)
2019
Erik Davis “Deathpower. Buddhism’s Ritual Imagination in Cambodia.” New York, Columbia University Press, 2016, in: H-Buddhism
2018
Arnika Fuhrmann “Ghostly Desires. Queer Sexuality and Vernacular Buddhism in Contemporary Thai Cinema.” Durham and London, Duke University Press, 2016, in: Journal of Asian Studies 76 (4), pp. 1134-1136
2013
Kirsten Endres and Andrea Lauser (eds.): “Engaging the Spirit World. Popular Beliefs and Practices in Modern Southeast Asia.” New York, Berghahn Books, 2011, in: ANTHROPOS 108, pp. 652-653
2012
Barend J. Terwiel: “Monks and Magic. Revisiting a Classic Study of Religious Ceremonies in Thailand.” Copenhagen, NIAS Press, 2012, in: Aséanie 28, pp. 210-214
Awards and Nominations
2018
Winner of the Humboldt-Prize for Excellence in Teaching 2017: ‘Heterogenität als Herausforderung’
2017
Nominated for a Junior Fellowship, Society of Fellows, Harvard University (invited to campus talks)
Nominated for the ‘Humboldt Prize 2017’ (for the doctoral dissertation: Ghosts of Belonging: Searching for Khmerness in Rural Buriram), nominated by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
2010
Nominated for the ‘Rudolf Virchow Research Prize’ (for the magisterial thesis: On Centrism and Dualism: Anthropological Models of Social Organization in Southeast Asia Reconsidered), nominated by the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Freie Universität Berlin
Third Mission
2025
Queer and Gender Studies Science Slam Heidelberg - Queer Spirit Mediums in Thailand and Myanmar
2023
Guest in the radio broadcast "Weltweit" of Cosmo Radio Bremen (19 February)
2022
Expert talk on Thailand's Phi Krasue in the Podcast "Critters and Kaiju (and other curiosities)"
Conversation on (Trans-)Gender and Religion in Southeast Asia in the "The Nordic Asia Podcast" on the occasion of the publication of Deities and Divas: Queer Ritual Specialists in Myanmar, Thailand and Beyond by Nias Press
