Forest Guardians, Forest Destroyers

Environmental debates concerning northern Thailand often simplistically categorize some agriculturalists as "forest destroyers" and others as "forest guardians," while failing to take into account the social and political factors governing how environmental knowledge is made and used and thereby distorting social and environmental policies. So argue Forsyth (London School of Economics and Political Science, UK) and Walker (Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National U., Australia), who challenge the common narratives of environmental crisis in northern Thailand, specifically arguing that the standard linking of upland agriculture with environmental degradation is overly simplistic. They examine the production of narratives of environmental knowledge by local actors, scientists, NGOs, and others and link these narratives to the politics of state building. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Tim Forsyth is a reader at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Andrew Walker is a fellow in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University.