Who knows the river? Gender, expertise, and the politics of local ecological knowledge production of the Salween River, Thai-Myanmar border

Abstract

This article examines how local knowledge about riverine ecologies influenced the production of expert, gendered, and ethnic identities, and interrogates how these identities and knowledges are ‘co-produced’. Drawing on work in feminist political ecology and science studies, I highlight the links between the production of knowledge and identity. Research was carried out through fieldwork in two villages along the Salween River, at the border between Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), where residents participated in ‘Villager Research’. Here, residents identify as members of ethnic minority groups, mainly the Karen, and undertake a variety of livelihood activities, including fishing, swidden agric..