Ontological Politics and Conservation in Thailand: Communities Making Rivers and Fish Matter

Keywords: Ontological politics, conservation, Thailand, inland fisheries, rivers, more-than-human networks
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

This presentation applies the ontological politics approach to juxtapose with plural sociotechnical imaginaries. Ontological politics underscores the formation of different “worlds” through practices and can help explain the persistence of environmental conflicts, such as those between Indigenous ethnic minorities like Karen peoples and state forest conservation agencies in Thailand. As seen with Karen communities residing in areas managed as national parks, such as the Ngao River basin, the environmental management practices employed by state agencies and Indigenous ethnic minority communities enact different ontologies of conservation. We argue that shifting the focus of conservation discourse from forests to inland fisheries could present opportunities for state recognition of and support for community-based conservation. Referring to political ecology literature, we demonstrate how state forest conservation agencies foreclose other ontologies, precluding community-based conservation. Such ontological dominance, however, is more contested in the case of state agencies with jurisdiction over inland waters. Drawing on interviews, participatory mapping activities, and participant observation that examine river livelihoods, management, and conservation in two Karen communities in the Ngao River basin, we consider how these communities make visible the agency of fish and other aquatic life through their knowledges and practices. We argue that Ngao Karen communities have demonstrated that they can account for and conserve inland aquatic life while the Thai state has been unable, highlighting the importance of centering Ngao Karen river conservation practices and their ontologies. Recognition and support for these communities’ river conservation practices legitimizes otherwise marginalized ontologies for resource management and conservation throughout Thailand.