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Multi-Sited Contestations along the Borderwaters of the Mekong: Discourse Analysis of Hydropower and Anti-Dam Movements in Cambodia and Laos

Sat, March 18, 5:15 to 7:15pm, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, Floor: 2nd Floor, Huron

Abstract

This paper addresses two hydropower dam-related narratives, the first coming from anti-dam activism groups and dam-affected-communities, and the other originating from dam project developers, backed by large corporations based in China and Thailand, who promote hydropower as clean energy. While those belonging to the first group highlight the negative impacts of the dam on local social and environment surroundings and on downstream areas, the second emphasizes growing energy demand and the need for cheap electricity to develop. The research constitutes first hand anthropological investigations conducted by an ethnic Stieng/Khmer native-cum-dam activist in affected communities in Stung Treng and Koh Kong Provinces in Cambodia, and in Champasak Province in southern Laos, between 2013 and 2016. I also analyze interviews with activists and NGO workers and researchers working on dam issues, in particular the three major dam projects along the mid Mekong River and its tributaries. These projects involve not just two, but four countries, namely Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, each of which has its own historically specific footing and unique energy and sovereignty agendas and complex geopolitical negotiating table. Since the construction sites of the dam and the affected communities may not be geographically close to one another, but are instead spread across countries, the paper suggests an innovative way to look at the flows – that of the Mekong River and that of resources (capital) and power – as borderlands/spaces. Accounting for this dynamism is necessary to thoroughly understand the complexities faced by all parties involved.

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