Mark Graham

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My dissertation work focuses on economic development projects in the Thai silk industry.  Specifically, it looks at the effects that the Internet is having, and can have, on small scale textile producers in Thailand.  The Internet is often touted as a panacea for perceived deficiencies in economic development, and a host of government agencies, NGOs, and private actors highlight its space-transcending abilities, which can instantly connect producers with consumers.  Using interviews and surveys with producers and sellers of silk in the Isaan region of Thailand, my research examines how the Internet has been integrated into flows of silk and money as they move between producers and consumers.  The Internet is frequently simplistically viewed as an easy way to shrink relative distance between producers and consumers in the context of economic development, and my research provides an empirical and critical look at this process.  My work reveals that contrary to the widespread idea that the Internet can disintermediate commodity chains, and thereby bring economic gains to silk producers, it is instead being most often employed to consolidate the power of intermediaries.