Development, dialectic and dominion : NGO development approaches and the semi-Asiatic mode of production in Isaan and Bangkok

Abstract

This thesis is in three parts. The first part draws upon the work of Sraffa (1960) and Gregory (1982) from the neo-Ricardian economic tradition, and Keen (l993a; 1993b) who uncovers a dialectical theory of value in Marx consistent with Sraffa's thought. This dialectical theory of value is used to reformulate the concept of modes of production within neo-Ricardian framework. In the second part, it is argued that the version of an Asiatic mode of production which many Thai scholars have argued characterised Thailand's history (Chatthip Nartsupha and Suthy Prasartset 1981;Chatthip Nartsupha 1999), is internally inconsistent. Instead, a "semi-Asiatic" or labour-short mode characterised both state and village in pre-modern central Thailand (Siam) and still provides ideological legitimacy to the Thai ruling class. As an ideology of governance, it acts to limit the discourse of development by restricting the political power and geographic and economic mobility of Thailand's lower classes. This semi-Asiatic mode explains many historical features of rural communities valorised by a significant section of Thailand's NGOand civil society movement. This part takes a multidisciplinary approach, drawing upon anthropology, archaeology, Marxist and post-Marxist economics, history and political theory to analyse the articulated, core/periphery political economy of Bangkok and North-East Thailand (Isaan). In the third part, based upon fieldwork conducted in 2002-3, case studies of three rural economic development projects supported by Thai NGOs are presented, with a focus upon their attitude towards migration and whether they meet the aspirations of their target groups and participants. It is argued that the class attitudes of the semi-Asiatic mode have remained as an elite ideology which shapes the perspective NGO projects adopt towards the residents of Isaan, particularly on the issue of migration. In resistance to this ideology, it is suggested that Thai villagers are embracing capitalist development to a much greater extent than their NGO patrons through the act of labour migration. The thesis concludes that migration between centre and periphery is a key area of class contestation in Thailand, and examines the political economy of internal migration. A postscript applies this analysis to the recent red shirt/yellow shirt clashes. Show more