The Post-Politicization of Participation in Neoliberal Conservation: Cases from Canada and Thailand

The rescaling of conservation globally is engendering an increase in private sector stakeholders in conservation practice. Recent moves to allow private interests to develop and manage services within national parks have sparked significant countermovements in several states, including Canada and Thailand. Political ecologists have widely elucidated the socio-economic implications of the neoliberalsiation of conservation, but have been rather quiet on the political implications in terms of public and Indigenous participation in conservation governance. This research explores the relationship between political economy and the politics of conservation governance through two case studies of public protest against private tourism development within protected areas: Jasper National Park, Canada and Doi Suthep-Pui National Park, Thailand. I analyze the nature and scope of both countermovements, looking at how and why situated actors articulate different visions of conservation and the role of national parks, what strategies proponents and opponents employ to enrol allies, and how and why certain knowledge claims about conservation gain currency over others. I argue that neoliberalisation, and austerity politics more specifically, create the structural conditions for the post-politicization of conservation governance, reducing democratic oversight of public provisioning. In such conditions, park authorities employ a series of strategies to remove debate from the public sphere, orchestrate the appearance of consensus and ultimately to legitimize unpopular tourism development decisions.