Journal of Anthropology, Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre (JASAC)

Editorial Note

Narupon Duangwises — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

(Book Review) Belittled Citizens: The Cultural Politics of Childhood on Bangkok’s Margins

ฺBoonlert Visetpricha — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

(Book Review) The Shock Doctrine : the Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Witawin Siripoonsap — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" analyzes the exploitation of disasters, both natural and man-made, to advance neoliberal policies that would otherwise be impossible to implement. Klein argues that these policies are often introduced during times of crisis when populations are vulnerable and focused on survival. The book draws a parallel between the use of "shock" in medical treatment and its application in economics, illustrating how neoliberal ideologues, like Milton Friedman, capitalize on moments of shock to implement radical economic restructuring. These restructurings often involve deregulation, privatization, and the erosion of social safety nets, benefiting corporations and elites at the expense of the general population. Klein provides case studies from around the world, demonstrating how this "disaster capitalism" operates, from Chile under Pinochet to post-Katrina New Orleans and post-invasion Iraq.

(Book Review) Louder and Faster : Pain, Joy, and the Body Politic in Asian American Taiko

เพชรงาม บุณยะเวศ — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

In a Carbon-Valuing World

Kanokwan Manorom — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This article introduces the concept of “decolonizing climate” through the framework of postcolonial political ecology, offering an academic critique of mainstream climate discourse that advocates for global reductions in livestock and meat consumption as a carbon mitigation strategy—without regard for cultural, geographical, and historical differences. Using a case study of pastoralist communities in Kenya, and drawing from literature review and fieldwork conducted between 2022–2024, the article shows that mobile livestock systems serve as adaptive mechanisms to drought, expressions of cultural identity, and forms of local epistemology.The article challenges universalist framings that reduce livestock to mere “carbon sources” and argues that such narratives perpetuate colonial structures of land and environmental governance. It calls for the recognition of women’s voices and local knowledge systems as equally legitimate contributors to shaping just and inclusive environmental futures.

ไทย

Nantawat Chatuthai — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

The research article aims to answer the question: How does liberal democratic ideology help reproduce or expand the problem of precarious employment through the support of neoliberal entrepreneurial ideology? And why is it so? By studying the history of thought within the framework of economic anthropology, starting with an exploration of Foucault's explanation of the origins of neoliberalism and human capital theory (entrepreneurship), then discussing how such processes actually occurred historically and led to the transition to a precarious employment system. The final section discusses that the idea that individuals are entrepreneurs may not have just been created in the era of neoliberalism, but may have been created by liberal democratic ideology from the beginning. In this sense, liberal democratic ideology plays a significant role in supporting the problem of precarious employment.

In the water, there are fish. In the fields, there is water

Thanida Boonwanno — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This study aims to demonstrate that the flood retention management on upper Chao Phraya lowland known as the Bang Rakam Model was developed based on the concept of "Living with Floods." This kind of water management is implemented in areas that experience recurrent flooding, where local communities have adapted their livelihoods to coexist with flood conditions. However, in this context, "living with floods" does not refer to natural flooding but rather to flood retention on rice fields. The regulation of water inflow into rice fields is managed through a coordinated planting and water distribution calendar. This affects the adjustment of the rice production rhythm and rice production methods in the area, as well as the way of life of the people in the area who have a variety of occupations.

This article presents empirical findings from field data collection in 2017, the inaugural year of the Bang Rakam Model project. Despite the passage of time, several key challenges persist. First, there has been no compensation provided to farmers whose rice fields are used for water retention. Second, the water management approach has significantly impacted agricultural production cycles, imposing constraints on farmers. These challenges include the necessity of cultivating only rice varieties with a short growing season, reduced market value due to high moisture content in harvested rice, and the practice of burning rice stubble to expedite the transition to the next planting cycle in accordance with the irrigation schedule.

Analytical Study on the Social Dimensions of Climate Change

Chaya Vaddhanaphuti — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This article aims to explore and critically examine the trajectory of climate change studies within the social sciences and humanities since the year 2000. It identifies three major directions of inquiry: ontology, epistemology, and justice. From an ontological perspective (What is climate?), scholarship has focused on the relationships between climate and socio-cultural life. This work reveals climate as, on the one hand, an unruly planetary actor that resists governance, and, on the other hand, a socially constructed entity that is more-than-climate. The nature of climate thus emerges as multi-situated, multi-faceted, and multi-scalar. From an epistemological perspective (How is climate understood?), scholars examine the interactions among knowledge, institutions, and policies that give rise to climate governance at the international level. This includes analysis of the processes through which climate knowledge is produced, highlighting both the inclusions and exclusions of particular forms of knowledge. From a justice perspective (Who benefits and who loses from climate governance?), attention is directed toward the fairness of proposed solutions, for instance, who is rendered more vulnerable by mitigation and adaptation strategies, while also considering the capitalist and colonial processes underpinning capital accumulation. The article concludes by reflecting on the possibilities, limitations, and likely trajectories of future climate change research in the social sciences and humanities.

Fields in Flux

Piyarat Panlee — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0700

This article offers a critical rethinking of the concept and methodology of the “field” in anthropology amid a world shaped by rapid transformations, uncertainty, and digital transitions. Drawing from the author's fieldwork experience, it reflects on the evolving role of the researcher, shifting methodological practices, and the production of knowledge in contemporary contexts. The paper traces the movement from classical notions of the field—as a bounded, physical site—towards an understanding of the field as a dynamic space constituted through connections among people, things, technologies, and information. It engages with digital and posthumanist frameworks and introduces alternative methodological approaches such as patchwork ethnography and rapid ethnography. These emphasize flexibility, participation, and ongoing reflexivity. Rather than proposing a fixed model, the article invites readers to embrace experimentation and imagination in designing field sites and research processes that are attuned to the complexity and interconnectivity of the present world.