Legal plurality: an analysis of power interplay in Mekong hydropower

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dc.creatorSuhardiman, Diana
dc.creatorGiordano, Mark
dc.date2014-09-03
dc.date2015-03-17T14:39:55Z
dc.date2015-03-17T14:39:55Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T18:32:42Z
dc.descriptionThe changing notion of state territoriality highlights overlapping power structures at international, national, and local scales and reveals how states can be “differently” powerful. This article analyzes how the interplay of these power structures shapes the dynamics of natural resource management in one of the world’s fastest changing transboundary basins, the Mekong. Taking the Lao People’s Democratic Republic as a case study, we highlight the existing inconsistency and institutional discrepancies in land, water, and environmental policy related to hydropower and illustrate how they are manifested in multiple decision-making frameworks and overlapping legal orders. The resulting legal plurality reveals the inherently contested terrain of hydropower but, more important, it illustrates how the central state has been able to use contradictory mandates and interests to further its goals. The specific Mekong hydropower case demonstrates that an understanding of power geometries and scale dynamics is crucial to meaningful application of social and environmental safeguards for sustainable dam development.More broadly, the case sheds light on the important role of states’ various agents and their multiple connections, partially explaining how the achievement of the central state’s goals can be derived from legal plurality rather than hindered by it.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/58401
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/158973
dc.languageen
dc.publisherInforma UK Limited
dc.rightsLimited Access
dc.sourceSuhardiman, Diana; Giordano, M. 2014. Legal plurality: an analysis of power interplay in Mekong hydropower. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 16p. (Online first). doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2014.925306
dc.subjectwater power
dc.subjectnatural resources management
dc.subjectterritorial waters
dc.subjectlegal frameworks
dc.subjectdecision making
dc.subjectfund
dc.subjectprivate sector
dc.subjectstate intervention
dc.subjectcapacity building
dc.subjectriver basins
dc.subjectcase studies
dc.titleLegal plurality: an analysis of power interplay in Mekong hydropower
dc.typeJournal Article

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