| Summary/Abstract |
Self-reliance sprang to prominence in Thailand in the 1980s in response to the socioeconomic upheavals of development, globalization and rural transformation. Whereas debates over self-reliance have tended to be polemical, with scholars critiquing its idealistic, nationalist and anti-market features, this article considers the divergent meanings of self-reliance. Redirecting attention from a collective idea of the 'self' based on motifs of the self-sufficient village and nation, to individual self-making, the authors argue that self-reliance can equally refer to an entrepreneurial ethic of maximizing one's potential under conditions of rapid rural transformation through active and pragmatic engagement with the market and the state. After introducing the collective and individual faces of self-reliance, the article presents a content analysis of Theknoloyi Chaoban (Villager Technology), a magazine founded in the late 1980s to promote self-reliance among farmers. As a repository of practical handbook knowledge, the magazine encourages village self-sufficiency and national self-sourcing alongside commercial and state-based strategies for boosting productivity, thus illuminating the complex realities of rural transformation and self-making in Thailand since the 1980s.
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