Sufficient Citizens

Moderation and the Politics of Sustainable Development in Thailand

Bibliographic Data

ID2290465
AuthorsEli Elinoff (0000-0001-5356-5003, National University of Singapore)
Year2014
Volume37
Issue1
Pages89-108
Publication date2014-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePoLAR Political and Legal Anthropology Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1081-6976 • E-ISSN: 1555-2934
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/plar.12052
OpenAlexW1892218885
LanguageEN
Citations received29
References cited26

After the 1997 Asian markets crash, the theory of the 'sufficiency economy' altered the discourse of development in Thailand. Emphasizing Buddhist notions of moderation and 'enough' sufficiency recast development as a means to temper socio-economic volatility by reforming consumer affect. Sufficiency theory pinned the nation's economic upheaval on excessive desires, attempting to intervene in these impulses through projects rooted in personal moderation and communality. In this article, I explore the relationship between politics, citizenship, and sufficiency. Through ethnographic analysis of cases from urban squatter settlements taking part in state-driven participatory urban planning policies, I argue that sufficiency has become central to debates over citizenship in contemporary Thailand. Urban planners use sufficiency to attempt to produce what they term 'personal development' and to attempt to defuse political claims by training the poor to moderate their demands by learning 'enough.' I also show how residents of squatter communities use the language and practices of sufficiency to make political claims and to demonstrate their legitimacy as citizens with rights to the city. In doing so, I demonstrate how notions of sustainable development tied to moderation extend and potentially interrupt social inequalities

Anthropological Studies and Insights · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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