Materialität und Macht im Spiegel der Assemblage-Theorie: Erkundungen am Beispiel der Waldpolitik in Thailand

Abstract

Abstract. Nature and technology are at the core of many ongoing social transformations and political struggles. While constructivist approaches in general and poststructuralist theories in particular point to the discursive negotiation of materiality, they have so far failed to adequately account for its constitutive role in stabilizing and destabilizing social relations. We argue that theories based on a "flat ontology" offer a way to re-materialize social theory while keeping the sensitivity to power-knowledge relations that poststructuralist theories have developed. Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Guattari and recent discussions on Assemblage Theory in Human Geography, we sketch out a theoretical framework that conceptualizes the relations between symbolic and material entities in a non-deterministic way. Using the example of recent shifts in forest politics in Thailand under the influence of climate change policies, we discuss some of the empirical aspects that can be analyzed with the help of Assemblage Theory.