Contesting Moral Capital in the Economy of Expectations of an Extractive Frontier

Abstract

In Southeast Asia, actors in civil society have negotiated new social and economic realities at the conjuncture of intensifying governance and commodity production in frontier areas. As these spaces intersect, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their allies have reflected on the legitimacy of their interventions in terms of how local farmers view contrasting benefits relative to the changing expectations and promises emerging at the nexus of governance and commodity production. This article explores how a long-standing NGO network on Palawan Island, the Philippines, has drawn on its moral capital and legitimacy in forging a grassroots consortium that has implemented the carbon governan..