Dr. Hilary Faxon's Focus on the Politics of Land and Natural Resources
Dr. Hilary Faxon invites students to dive into the relationships between sustainability and development in her courses on environment, international development, and political ecology.
Since 2012, Dr. Faxon’s research has focused broadly on the politics of land and natural resources, including the ties between land and democracy, primarily in Southeast Asia. More recently, she has examined how attempted democratic reform and struggles over ethnic sovereignty in Myanmar have shaped the livelihoods of small farmers, especially following the 2021 military coup. She highlights the value of international contexts like these in informing U.S. responses to challenges such as political change and managing natural resources equitably and sustainably.
Recently, Dr. Faxon co-led a project that produced a graphic novel based on an eight-year participatory photovoice research project with women farmers in Myanmar. Published in English and Burmese, the novel centers these women as active research collaborators and highlights their voices through visual storytelling that reflects their evolving landscapes.