Northern Illinois University
Department of Political Science
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Emphasis

• Comparative politics
• Authoritarian politics
• Social movements
• Transnational advocacy
• Platform governance/big tech governance
• Southeast Asia
• Mixed methods

Overview of Scholarly Activity

Mai Van Tran (Ph.D., Cornell University) is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and a faculty associate with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Her research agenda focuses on the changing dynamics of contentious politics in non-democracies, especially in Southeast Asian contexts. Her ongoing work examines resistance to digital repression in the Global South, by analyzing cross-platform authoritarian repression, dissidents' resilience capacity, and drivers of impactful platform advocacy in Southeast Asia. Adopting an engaged mixed methods research agenda, her research has integrated social media analysis with in-depth interviews with digital rights advocates and marginalized activists across Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Prof. Tran's academic research and book review are published at ​International Affairs, Big Data & Society, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Asian Politics & Policy,  Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, and Open Research Europe. She has disseminated policy recommendations to development practitioners at the RightsCon Summit, Myanmar Digital Rights Forum, Meta, United Nations, European Union, Oxfam, etc. Other public scholarship works include the Digital Defence Resources and analyses in The Washington Post, Brookings Institution, Al Jazeera, AP, New Mandala, Tech Policy Press etc. Before joining NIU, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and University of Copenhagen.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

Mai Van Tran, Tuwanont Phattharathanasut, Haymarn Soe Nyunt, Nalinthip Ekapong, and Lewis Young. 2025. "Pro-democracy platform advocacy: Resisting Big Tech-mediated authoritarianism in Southeast Asia."  Open Research Europe.

Megan Ryan, Mai Van Tran, and Swan Ye Htut. 2024. "Strange bedfellows or trusted comrades? Digital solidarity-building among Myanmar's revolutionaries." Journal of Contemporary Asia 54 (5): 887–912.

Megan Ryan and Mai Van Tran. 2024. "Democratic backsliding disrupted: The role of digitalized resistance in Myanmar." Asian Journal of Comparative Politics 9 (1): 133-158.

Mai Van Tran. 2023. "Provoking civilian disruption against popular protests: Myanmar military's counter-mobilisation strategies." Journal of Contemporary Asia 54 (4): 573–595.

Hilary Faxon, Kendra Kintzi, Mai Van Tran, Kay Zak Wine, and Swan Ye Htut. 2023. "Organic online politics: Farmers, Facebook and Myanmar's military coup." Big Data & Society 10 (1).

Mai Van Tran. 2023. "Enabling activist resilience: Bystander protection during protest crackdowns in Myanmar." Asian Politics & Policy 15 (2): 205-225.

Book Review

Mai Van Tran. 2023. "Return of the junta: why Myanmar's military must go back to the barracks." International Affairs 99(6): 2544–2545.

Public Scholarship

Mai Van Tran. 2025. "Lessons from Resisting Big Tech Power in Southeast Asia." Tech Policy Press.

Hilary Faxon, Kendra Kintzi, Mai Van Tran, Kay Zak Wine, and Swan Ye Htut. 2023. "Farmers, Facebook and Myanmar's Coup." New Mandala.

App

Mai Van Tran, Tuwanont Phattharathanasut, Haymarn Soe Nyunt, Nalinthip Ekapong, Lewis Young, Peosamnang Soth, and Thanh Nguyen. 2025. Digital Defence Resources.