Dr Daniel Peterson, BA (Hons) Monash University; LLB Monash University; LLM University of Melbourne; PhD Australian Catholic University

Profile

In 2019, Daniel completed his PhD. His dissertation constituted the first sustained investigation into the status of Indonesia’s human rights law regime, as well as the first comprehensive sociolegal examination of the high-profile blasphemy trial of the former governor of Jakarta, Basuki ‘Ahok’ Tjahaja Purnama. In 2020-21, Daniel completed a visiting fellowship at the KITLV Leiden, where he examined a raft of land conflicts litigated in Indonesian courts to understand how Indonesia’s judiciary typically resolves such disputes. Between 2021 and 2022, Daniel completed a 12-month research fellowship at the Alfred Deakin Institute, Deakin University, where he investigated the evolution of the Indonesia-China bilateral relationship. In 2022-23, Daniel taught Political Islam and International Politics at King’s College London, while also conducting research into post-coup Myanmar and China in Southeast Asia at Queen Mary University of London. Daniel is also a qualified lawyer and Associate of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne. 

Teaching

POL106 – Introduction to International Relations

POL110 – Thinking Politically: Introduction to concepts, theories and Ideologies

POL381 – Politics of Southeast Asia (Semester B)

Research

Research Interests:

• Chinese economic statecraft in maritime Southeast Asia (primarily Indonesia)
• The politics of democratisation and democratic regression in Southeast Asia
• Legal and political Islamisation in maritime Southeast Asia

Publications

Books:

Islam, Blasphemy, and Human Rights in Indonesia: The Trial of Ahok (Routledge, 2020)

Journal articles:

Daniel Peterson et al, 'AUKUS-plus? Indonesia’s strategic options in response to conflict in the Indo-Pacific' (2023) 5(2) Australian Journal of Defence and Strategic Studies 245-268

Daniel Peterson, ‘China’s Power Play in Indonesia: Infrastructure investment and territorial incursions’ (2023) 43(1) Moussons 223-247

Daniel Peterson, ‘The Majelis Ulama Indonesia and its role in the Ahok conviction’ (2020) 21(1) Australian Journal of Asian Law, Article 6: 1-18

Daniel Peterson, ‘Blasphemy, Human Rights, and the Case of Ahok’ (2018) 2 Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law 52-94

Book chapters:

Daniel Peterson and Saskia Schäfer, ‘Who are Indonesia’s Islamist majoritarians and how influential are they?’ in Mathew Mathews and Melvin Tay (eds), Religion & Identity Politics: Global Trends and Local Realities (World Scientific, June 2021) 96-129

Daniel Peterson, ‘Blasphemy prosecutions in Indonesia and the Ahok case: Majoritarianism versus liberalism’ in Tim Lindsey and Helen Pausacker (eds), Crime and Punishment in Indonesia (Routledge, 15 December 2020) 397-429