Pon Souvannaseng

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).

Education

• PhD London School of Economics & Politic
• Master of Research London School of Economics & Political Science
• Master of Science London School of Economics & Political Science
• 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

Awards and Honors

• 2022, Bentley Research Council Grant, Bentley Research Council
• 2021, Bentley Faculty Affairs Committee Grant, Bentley Faculty Affairs Committee
• 2021, Wilson China Fellowship, Woodrow Wilson Center
• 2020, East-West Center DC - Non-Residential Asia Fellow 2020, East West Center, Washington DC - Japan Foundation - US Embassy, Tokyo
• 2020, Mansfield-Luce Asia Scholar 2020-2021, Mansfield Foundation / Henry Luce Foundation
• 2019, American Political Science Association Asia Fellow, American Political Science Association
• 2014, International Federation for University Women Recognition Award, International Federation for University Women
• 2013, Fulbright Independent Research Grant, US Department of Education
• 2012, South-South Young Laureate Fellowship, CLACSO-CODESRIA-APISA

Publications

Journal Articles

• Souvannaseng, P. (2022). Liquidated: US/Japan-Chinese Rivalry, Financial Crises, and Explaining Shifts in Hydropower Finance Regimes in the Mekong. Asian Perspective. Winter 2021
• 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
• 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

Book Chapters

• Souvannaseng, P. (2021). Sino-African Hydropower Projects in Comparative Perspective In Jean-Francois Rousseau & Sabrina Habich-Sobiegalla, (Eds.) Hydropower in Southwest China: Drivers & Impacts. 255-264. Cham (Springer): Palgrave: International Political Economy Series
• Souvannaseng, P. (). Infrastructure Finance Regimes In Simon Creak, Holly High, Oliver Tappe, (Eds.) Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Laos. Routledge UK: Routledge Forthcoming.