I am interested in the political economy and cultural politics of Asian cities. I am particularly interested in how claims to the future are negotiated through the politics of space – as a set of practices and negotiations over property, as a set of relations of power and patronage that underpin sociospatial change – and the politics of reason – reason as a central element in the project of modernity, development, and in the practice of planning – with a specific focus on the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
My current book project, Phnom Penh, City of Speculation, looks at that city as radically unbounded through circulations of capital and visions of the future in what is a rapidly changing landscape. I locate my research in the debates on the urban question, representations and practices of the economy, and the intersection of culture and power. My research has been funded by the Fulbright, the Center for Khmer Studies, and the University of California Office of the President.
