ABSTRACT
Many of the species and ecologies inhabiting Southeast Asian forests are endemic to the region, contributing to the unique cultures and societies of those evolving with them. This chapter explores these forest-society relationships in the context of development. It focuses on the influence of forests upon development. The chapter explores what kinds of politics and ways of life are enabled by forest-human assemblages, as well as the politics and ways of life that form in the wake of the removal of forests from these assemblages. The swidden agriculture practiced in and alongside forests has played a key role in the societies and cultures of many ethnic minority cultures across the region. A more-than-human approach can provide a framework to explore the diverse ways in which people's lives are deeply entwined and co-dependent on what we now know as forests, and to promote a relational ethics and politics based on respect and responsibility generated within these intimate relationships.
