http://hdl.handle.net/2123/17012
Title: | The production of space and construction of frontier: Contesting a Cambodian resource landscape |
Authors: | Chann, Sopheak |
Keywords: | production of space frontier resource landscape Cambodia critical cartography |
Issue Date: | 31-Mar-2017 |
Publisher: | University of Sydney Faculty of Science School of Geosciences |
Abstract: | This research employs Henry Lefebvre’s concept of “the production of space” and the notion of frontiers – empty or unused space – to explore the complex spatial contestations over resource landscapes in Cambodia. The study focuses on the construction of frontiers by examining how socio-spatial relations are produced in relation to how the frontier is constructed. In this research, two groups of actors and processes are involved: (1) the state and its associated elite actors/agencies who employ spatial representations (maps) to organise the landscape; and (2) the local actors who construct and organise space by directly living in it. Regarding the state-based spatial arrangements, this research employs critical cartography to examine formal boundaries made by the state and its associated agencies, including the political elites, conservation organisations and development agencies. In regard to informal local level spatial arrangements, place-making processes are examined to understand how land and resources are organised by local actors. The thesis focuses on one case study site located in Northwest Cardamom – an upland area of the western part of Cambodia near the border of Thailand and a former Khmer Rouge stronghold. This thesis argues that frontier – empty or wasteland – is not an absolute geographical space, but a produced space. Frontier construction is at the centre of land and resource conflicts over the landscape. This produced space is the outcome of dialectical relations of spatial idealisation, the representation of space and direct spatial interaction among different actors whose interests are to access and control the landscape. This research found that being able to use maps, the state and its associated elite actors and agencies are able to formally exclude local communities from accessing land and resources by making landscape appear empty or unused. The local spatial organisation and socio-spatial relations are also constructed within the notion of a frontier, which is the outcome of a traumatic political history and physical traits of the landscape. With the long-term experience of organising local landscapes, the ex-Khmer Rouge (ex-KR) tend to have more control over land and resources compared to new in-migrants moving to search for land. Two forms of interaction between state-based and local-based spatial representation and organisation can be observed. The first is state enforced abstract boundaries which directly exclude people from accessing land and resources. The second is state-based private land titling which delegitimises local villagers’ land claims. |
URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2123/17012 |
Type of Work: | PhD Doctorate |
Type of Publication: | Doctor of Philosophy Ph.D. |
Appears in Collections: | Sydney Digital Theses (Open Access) |
File | Description | Size | Format | |
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Sopheak_Ch_Thesis.pdf | Thesis | 15.63 MB | Adobe PDF |
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