World Bank‐directed Development? Negotiating Participation in the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in Laos

Development and Change - Tập 40 Số 3 - Trang 487-507 - 2009
Sarinda Singh1
1University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

Tóm tắt

ABSTRACTThe omnipotence of the World Bank on a global scale means that it is often regarded as the most influential partner in bringing about transformations in developing countries. This article contributes to ongoing discussions of this issue by examining some effects of the Bank's participatory agenda in one of its flagship projects, the Nam Theun 2 (NT2) hydropower scheme in Laos. Critical accounts suggest that the Bank's promotion of participation in donor‐dependent countries like Laos is either a guise or an imposition. These propositions are considered in two settings where participation was debated around the time of the Bank's loan appraisal for NT2: first, an international stakeholders’ workshop held in Vientiane; and second, some international attempts to identify the concerns of villagers living near the NT2 dam site. In workshops and villages, participation is a negotiated performance whereby competing representations emerge through the interaction between village, state and international actors. More generally, this article shows that a grounded view of development can attend to the practices that constrain the hegemonic tendencies of the World Bank, even while maintaining awareness of the potency of its policies and interventions.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

ADB(2005) ‘Overview of Civil Society: Lao PDR’. Civil Society Briefs. Manila : Asian Development Bank .

10.1016/S1045-2354(03)00064-9

10.1080/0022038042000218134

10.1080/00220380701259665

Bourdet Y., 2000, The Economics of Transition in Laos: From Socialism to ASEAN Integration, 10.4337/9781781008713

10.1525/as.2002.42.1.107

10.1080/01436590220138367

10.1080/1356346042000218069

Chamberlain J.R.(2005) ‘Proposed Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project: Assessing the Quality of Local Consultation’. Vientiane :The World Bank.

Cooke B., 2001, Participation: The New Tyranny

10.1080/01436590500235603

Evans G., 2002, A Short History of Laos: The Land in Between

Flipse M.S., 1992, Asia's Littlest Dragon: An Analysis of the Laos Foreign Investment Code and Decree, Law and Policy in International Business, 23, 199

Goldman M., 2005, Imperial Nature: The World Bank and Struggles for Social Justice in the Age of Globalization

10.1162/1526380054127727

Guttal S.andB.Shoemaker(2004) ‘Manipulating Consent: The World Bank and Public Consultation in the Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project’ Watershed10: 18–25.http://www.terraper.org/articles/WS%2010(1)%20Feature%20‐%20Manipulating%20consent.pdf(accessed 22 July 2007).

10.1111/j.0012-155X.2005.00410.x

Hirsch P., 2002, Human Rights and the Environment: Conflicts and Norms in a Globalizing World, 147

Imhof A. S.LawrenceandC.Middleton(2007) ‘Hydropower Development in the Mekong Basin: Nam Theun 2 and the Need for Better Planning Processes’. Berkeley CA :International Rivers Network (IRN).

IRN(2005) ‘The Nam Theun 2 Resettlement Plan and Viability of Proposed Livelihood Options for Displaced Villagers’. Berkley CA :International Rivers Network (IRN).http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/NT2Resettlement.05.02.09.pdf(accessed 11 February 2006).

Kent J.(2007) ‘Laos Dam Raises Ethical Bar’ Newsweek11 August.http://www.newsweek.com/id/32175(accessed 25 May 2008).

Lawrence S.(2004) ‘The World Bank's International Technical Workshops on Nam Theun 2: Perspectives from Civil Society’ Watershed10: 26–29.http://www.terraper.org/articles/WS%2010(1)%20Report%20‐%20NT2%20tech%20workshop.pdf(accessed 22 July 2007).

10.1080/13600810500495907

10.1215/9780822389781

10.17730/humo.60.2.cl4dw5yv0gv7867c

Mertz R.A.(2004) ‘Lao PDR: Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project’. Letter to A. Imhof and S. Lawrence 16 August 2004. Washington DC :The World Bank.http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLAOPRD/147273‐1092045101973/20247655/NT2%20reply%20to%20IRN.pdf(accessed 15 March 2008).

10.1111/j.0012-155X.2004.00374.x

10.1017/S0020818303572010

NTPC(2004) ‘Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project Social Development Plan (SDP): Volume II’. Vientiane :Nam Theun 2 Power Company (NTPC).

Okonjo‐Iweala N. V.Kwakwa A.BeckwithandZ.Ahmed(1999) ‘Impact of Asia's Financial Crisis on Cambodia and the Lao PDR’ Finance and Development36. International Monetary Fund (IMF).http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/1999/09/okonjo.htm(accessed 15 March 2008).

Perrin A., 2005, Options under Water, Time, 44

Scudder T., 2005, The Future of Large Dams: Dealing with Social, Environmental, and Political Costs

Shoemaker B. I.G.BairdandM.Baird(2001) ‘The People and their River: A Survey of River‐Based Livelihoods in the Xe Bang Fai River Basin in Central Lao PDR’. Vientiane :Lao PDR/Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.

Singh S., 2009, Tai Lands and Thailand: Community and State in Southeast Asia

10.1080/03068370600661466

Stuart‐Fox M.(2004) ‘Politics and Reform in Lao People's Democratic Republic. Political Economy of Development’. Working Paper No 1. Williamsburg VA :The College of William and Mary.

10.1080/10357820500537054

10.1177/09526950122120961

UNPAN(2005) ‘Lao People's Democratic Republic Public Administration Country Profile’. Vientiane :United Nations Public Administration Network.

10.1080/09692290110126092

Weaver C., 2005, Our Poverty is a World Full of Dreams”: Reforming the World Bank, Global Governance, 11, 369, 10.1163/19426720-01103007

WMPA(2005) ‘Social and Environment Management Framework and 1st Operational Plan (SEMFOP)’. Vientiane :Nam Theun 2 Watershed Management and Protection Authority.

World Bank(2006a) ‘Lao PDR Economic Monitor’. Vientiane :The World Bank.

World Bank(2006b) ‘Engaging with Fragile States’. Washington DC :The World Bank.

World Bank, 2008, James Bond Advises Mekong Countries to Develop Hydropower Austainably, The World Bank in Laos, 6, 3

World Bank and ADB(2006) ‘Update on the Lao PDR: Nam Theun (NT2) Hydroelectric Project’. Vientiane :The World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

Development and Change

Tập 40 Số 3

487-507

Thông tin tác giả