*The seminar will be held in English.
Meeting room limits up to 50 attendees.
【About the Talk】
An early nineteenth century provocation suggested that the functions of administrations and public works of kings and prime ministers were “originally part, not of a system of government, but of an organization to promote life, fertility, prosperity, by transferring life from objects abounding in it to objects deficient in it” (Hocart 1936:3). This paper examines the myths and mechanics of superstitions and rituals at the resource frontiers of rural Cambodia in light of this provocation. The resulting discussion traces the ways that the Blue Dragon King ancestor, a karst landscape, and the tiger that lives in a cave at the karst, articulate people within the fertile landscape. Landscape governance is visible in two registers at the resource frontier. The ancestral economics of the Blue Dragon King remains in people’s stories and rituals, even as the practices of the human and non-human residents of the forest conform to the governance practices of global economics. The practical effects visible with the juxtaposition of ancestral and global economics give rise to alternative understandings of the backwards superstitions of rural people, which might steer the coming economy toward the promotion of life and fertility through a new understanding of prosperity.
【Note】
- The organizer reserves the right to amend the program and to limit or refuse entry to any person at any times, and will preclude those who are absent twice without notice.
- A confirmation email will be sent to you after the registration is closed.
- To prevent waste from the disposal of single-use cups, kindly bring your own water bottles or mugs.
