This book is a product of seven years of field research of Dr. Yos Santasombat in northern Thailand. The primary argument is that the basis of knowledge through which the Thai state and its various agencies and officials have come to know and wield power over local ethnic minority is a fantasy. Presumptions about non-Thai minorities, anecdotes, and ethnocentric bias resulting in construed misconceptions labeling people as “untamed” hill-billies’ slashing and burning the forest while producing opium and running drugs. These fantasies serve to legitimize the power of the state and its various agencies in order to exclude local peoples from their rights and access to natural resources. The book tries to do away with these fantasies and misconceptions, and to reintroduce a rethinking of sustainable development based on indigenous local knowledge.
ISBN: 974-957-830-8
Publication date : November 2013
Price : 350 Baht / 14 US$
- THEME
- Ethnic Politics | Resource Governance