The pursuit of alternatives: “Extractivist” development and feminist workers’ resistance in Thailand

Romyen Kosaikanont

How Thailand's new development strategy fails to transform the economy towards gender and social justice.

Illustration von drei Frauen, die auf einer Wiese sitzen und miteinander sprechen. Sie tragen bunte Kleidung und Kopfbedeckungen, eine Frau hat Blumen im Haar. Im Hintergrund befinden sich grüne Hügel mit Bäumen und ein Hirsch. Links unten steht der Text „feminist dialogue series“. Im Vordergrund liegt ein Korb mit Früchten, daneben ein Huhn. Der Stil der Illustration ist farbenfroh und abstrakt.

Image: The pursuit of alternatives: “Extractivist” development and feminist workers’ resistance in Thailand of Ruth Bañón / FES

The working group “Feminist Alternatives beyond Development Models: Putting Life at the Centre” intends to deepen the reflection on the prevailing neoliberal development paradigm in the context of the future of work. The dialogue created between feminists from Ghana, Argelia, South Africa, Uruguay and Thailand revisited the patterns of development discourses in the new era of digitalized capitalism and tried to critically look behind the promises of a “brave new world” that digital optimists often advertise. In this special edition of the Feminist Dialogue Series Romyen Kosaikanont, feminist academic from Thailand, shows how the country`s new development strategy fails to transform the economy towards gender and social justice and how local experiences of feminist workers` organizing are key in the search for alternatives. Please read the full study here