Venot Jean-Philippe, Jensen C.B. (2022). A multiplicity of prek(s) : enacting a socionatural mosaic in the Cambodian upper Mekong delta. Environment and Planning E-Nature and Space, 5 (3), 1446-1465. ISSN 2514-8486.
Titre du document
A multiplicity of prek(s) : enacting a socionatural mosaic in the Cambodian upper Mekong delta
Environment and Planning E-Nature and Space, 2022,
5 (3), 1446-1465 ISSN 2514-8486
In Khmer, the word prek designates a connection between things. In Kandal province in Cambodia, preks crisscross the landscape, connecting rivers with floodplains, supporting rich ecologies and a variety of livelihoods. Drawing on science and technology studies (STS) and critical water research, this paper explores prek(s) as a multiplicity. Rather than taking the prek as a passive object around which various practices occur, we examine how prek(s) are enacted as ontologically different : as irrigation infrastructure, as pathway to rice intensification, as device for Cambodian state-making, and as climate-friendly agricultural development. After analyzing interference patterns between enactments and their scale-making effects in- and outside the Mekong floodplains, we make explicit our own ontological politics. Focused on sustaining multiple uses and ecosystems, 'our' prek is a socionatural mosaic landscape where many human and more-than-human actors and practices can coexist. This ontological politics, we suggest, has implications for planetary environmental knowledges and delta management far beyond Kandal's landscape.
Plan de classement
Environnement, écologie générale [021ENVECO]
;
Evaluation et gestion des ressources en eau [062EVAEAU]
;
Développement, politique de développement, projets de développement [095DEVEL]
;
Impact socio-économique des aménagements hydro-agricoles [098HYSOC]
