This talk described elements of a new project initiated by research collaborators living in and around the Prey Lang Forest, Cambodia. Over the past ten years, they have been documenting the increasing devastation of both industrial and freelance logging, accompanied by migrant incursions clearing forest for cash crops. These were the arts of resistance. This year begins a new phase of engagement through which local researchers intend to cultivate the arts of resilience, transformation, and historical documentation. The rapid demise of their forest landscape leads to equally rapid changes in social practice, which people want to document and use for both teaching and archiving. In this talk, Dr. Courtney Work, joined by Dr. Tim Frewer, shared some of the things people want to document, stories about the process, and insight into how to do field research during a global pandemic.
Dr. Courtney Work’s research focuses on regions transforming from forest to developed, settled landscapes with interests in the interactions between humans and the non-human world. Disciplines include, the Anthropologies of Religion, Development, and the Environment; the History of Southeast Asian political formations; and Contemporary Political Economy and Climate Change.
Dr. Tim Frewer is a visiting researcher at the Australian National University and the Centre for Khmer Studies. His research focuses on development and climate change projects as well as livelihood changes in frontier areas. Dr. Frewer is based in Cambodia and is currently working on an intangible heritage project in the Prey Lang Forest.
View the recording of this talk below: