Thai Political Economy and Chatthip Nartsupha: A Case of Antagonistic Pluralism

Abstract

This article explores the evolution of Thai political economy through the influential work of Chatthip Nartsupha, a leading figure in the field during the post-World War II era. Chatthip’s contributions have shaped the discipline for generations. He has mentored numerous economists and spearheaded research projects that resisted the forces of globalization and neoliberalism. Chatthip was a co-founder of the Thai Political Economy Group, which emerged from Marxist-leftist ideologies in opposition to the rise of free-market capitalism in Thailand. Marxism provided the intellectual framework for the group, but Marx’s method of historical materialism was later deemed inadequate for analyzing the historical and economic development of Thailand. Debates continue among Thai economists regarding the country’s underdevelopment since the nineteenth century and the persistence of its middle-income trap in the twenty-first century. A critical moment occurred during the political turmoil of the 2000s when the Thai left intelligentsia within political science, the legal profession, political activism, and economics had a falling out. Chatthip faced accusations of ultranationalism because of his advocacy of Thai cultural nationalism. Evolving from an antagonistic intellectual environment, Thai political economy rejected the four-stage theory of development, with significant implications for ongoing methodological debates on the role of pluralism and evolutionary science in economics.

JEL Classification: B14, B15, B30, B52