About

Tamas Wells has written extensively on Southeast Asian politics and the role of civil society and international aid in both media and academic forums. He is an academic in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Contact him at: t.wells@unimelb.edu.au

See his full list of academic publications here and media articles here

His first book Narrating Democracy in Myanmar (Amsterdam University Press) was released in May 2021 and explores contested meanings of democracy amongst activists, democratic leaders and international aid workers in Myanmar,

His work has been published in a range of leading academic journals including Democratization, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Third World Quarterly, Urban Studies, Public Management Review, and Asian Journal of Political Science and in media outlets such as The Diplomat and The New Humanitarian.

Before entering academia he lived and worked in Myanmar for seven years. During this time he worked on public health and governance programs for several NGOs.

"Through a new perspective, Narrating Democracy in Myanmar sheds new light on the diverse narratives of the post-coup democracy in Myanmar. The author’s arguments make it a timely and valuable read for scholars interested in the dynamics of democracy in post-coup Myanmar. This book deserves to be read by a wide scholarly community."
- Kai Chen, Asian Studies Review, May 2022