Publication Date
2024
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
First Advisor
Morton, Micah F.
Degree Name
M.A. (Master of Arts)
Legacy Department
Department of Anthropology
Abstract
The focus of this thesis is to shed light on youth group activism in an Indigenous Pgaz k’Nyau Karen community in Thailand. These youth are seeking rights and recognition to sustain their subsistence-based practice of swidden agriculture in the context of state forest policy officially banning such practices. I draw on over two months of multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Thailand. I argue that the youth use a variety of strategies to render swidden agriculture visible and legible to the state and public in the interest of sustaining the practice, which they see as an essential part of their communal identity. I contend that swidden agriculture, in this sense, becomes a source for cultural claims to self-determination. I support my argument by exploring these dynamics as they play out at cultural festivals, in research and mapping, and through media engagement. This thesis will contribute to understandings of how marginalized communities negotiate the politicization of local agricultural practices in national contexts.
Recommended Citation
Rigert, Mitchell, "(Agri)cultural Activism: The Role of Pgaz K’nyau Karen Youth in Sustaining Rotational Farming in Thailand" (2024). Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations. 7921.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-thesesdissertations/7921
Extent
154 pages
Language
en
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.
Media Type
Text
