Rethinking Subjectivities of Women Farmer in Special Economic Zones

Abstract

The challenges of development in traditional Western thought are often explained and understood through dichotomies such as agriculture versus industry, rural versus urban, and backwardness versus progress. This framework emphasizes economic development in quantitative terms, focusing on industrial growth and urbanization as primary indicators of progress. Similarly, the state often prioritizes measurable economic outcomes, striving to transform various regions into special economic zones to attract investors. In this process, the agricultural sector is frequently neglected and marginalized, deemed "backward" for failing to generate income comparable to that of the industrial sector. However, development cannot be neatly divided between agriculture and industry. This is particularly evident in the experiences of female organic farmers in Thailand's Eastern Economic Zone, where industrial capital encroaches upon agricultural land. These women must actively work to protect their land by creating multidimensional forms of negotiating power to resist further industrial expansion into organic farming spaces. As a result, this article reviews the previous studies and challenges the binary concept of development that separates agriculture and industry, where there is an intersectionality in the status of female organic farmers in the context of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). These women bear the dual burden of engaging in agricultural responsibilities and resisting industrial capital groups. It re-examines women’s agency within the context of economic and agricultural relations and seeks to understand the subjectivities of female organic farmers within the broader political framework of development policy.