The Political Contestation between the State and the Local: A Study of a Thai Nation Development Cooperators Village in Northeast Thailand

Abstract

The political contestation between the state and the local has continued since long ago, and the state generally controls the rules. However, local groups in Isan are constantly finding ways to negotiate, disobey, and protest against the state within this field of relations. This paper is concerned with the ways a village, once labeled as “communist”, contested and negotiated with the state, which tried to take control over it. It examines how this label was turned into symbolic capital, and how this capital was deployed to create the group’s political space. This paper argues that, at present, in the field of political space the Thai Nation Development Cooperators have created a new meaning of the word “communist.” This new meaning enables them to negotiate within political space to determine rules in politics. In addition, the new meaning of “communist” has become symbolic capital that the Thai Nation Development Cooperators employ to expand their social space.