IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/cijwxx/v33y2017i1p111-131.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The interplay of activists and dam developers: the case of Myanmar’s mega-dams

Author

Listed:
  • Julian Kirchherr
  • Katrina J. Charles
  • Matthew J. Walton

Abstract

Scholars investigating activism against large dam developments in Asia usually focus on those campaigning, but not on those the campaigns are aimed at – the dam developers. Yet the developers’ perspective is crucial to comprehensively understand the dynamics of social and environmental activism in South-East Asia as well as its implications for the region’s energy landscape. This article analyzes the interplay of activists and Chinese dam developers in Myanmar via case studies of the Myitsone Dam and the Mong Ton Dam. The research is based on direct scholarly interaction with both activists and dam developers. It presents evidence of change from both sides: activists have professionalized in recent years; and Chinese dam developers now attempt to engage with civil society, albeit with limited success in the two cases studied. Yet, even with these changes, conflict over dam development persists, and the country may soon face severe limitations on development options for improving energy security. The case of Bhutan is also discussed to illustrate the potential of developing Myanmar’s hydropower resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Julian Kirchherr & Katrina J. Charles & Matthew J. Walton, 2017. "The interplay of activists and dam developers: the case of Myanmar’s mega-dams," International Journal of Water Resources Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 111-131, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:cijwxx:v:33:y:2017:i:1:p:111-131
    DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2016.1179176
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/07900627.2016.1179176
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/07900627.2016.1179176?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jaewon Jung & Sungeun Jung & Junhyeong Lee & Myungjin Lee & Hung Soo Kim, 2021. "Analysis of Small Hydropower Generation Potential: (2) Future Prospect of the Potential under Climate Change," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-26, May.
    2. Kirchherr, Julian & Ahrenshop, Mats-Philip & Charles, Katrina, 2019. "Resettlement lies: Suggestive evidence from 29 large dam projects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 208-219.
    3. Llamosas, Cecilia & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2021. "The future of hydropower? A systematic review of the drivers, benefits and governance dynamics of transboundary dams," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Yang, Bo & Swe, Thidar & Chen, Yixuan & Zeng, Chunyuan & Shu, Hongchun & Li, Xin & Yu, Tao & Zhang, Xiaoshun & Sun, Liming, 2021. "Energy cooperation between Myanmar and China under One Belt One Road: Current state, challenges and perspectives," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(PB).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:cijwxx:v:33:y:2017:i:1:p:111-131. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/cijw20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.