NEWS: Free access for 7 days for CSDS' book at Routledge: Living with Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia: Vulnerability, Migration and Environmental Change

Routledge is currently having promotion - which allows seven days of free access between now and the 14th of June to monograph eBooks. After the trial, those who have signed up for the free access can choose to purchase the eBook at the special price of £10 / $15.

One of CSDS’ books, Living with Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia: Vulnerability, Migration and Environmental Change, is part of this promotion. This book contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between migration, vulnerability, resilience and social justice associated with flooding across diverse environmental, social and policy contexts in Southeast Asia. It challenges simple analyses of flooding as a singular driver of migration, and instead considers the ways in which floods figure in migration-based livelihoods and amongst already mobile populations.

You can access the book in this link here.

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: Migration and SDGs: ASEAN and Beyond: A Pathway to 2030 Agenda: Episode II [Bangkok, 17-18 December 2019]

International Conference to Commemorate International Migrants’ Day

“Migration and SDGs: ASEAN and Beyond: A Pathway to the 2030 Agenda: Episode II”

Tuesday - Wednesday, 17-18 December 2019

Room 105, Maha Chulalongkorn Building, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Session Two: “Environment: Climate Change and Migration”

Tuesday, 17 December 2019, 15:50 - 17:25

Chair: Professor Surichai Wun’gaeo

Panelists:

• “Migration in the Context of Climate Change” by Ms. Chompoonute Nakornthap, Member of Human Rights Committee, Democrat Party, and HRD Advisor to the Minister of Social Development and Security.

• “Shall we go or shall we stay? Environmental Migration in Mekong and Irrawaddy Delta” by Representative from Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

• “title tbc” by Representative from Northern Region, Thailand

• “Flooding disaster, people’s displacement and state response: A case study of Hat Yai Municipality, Thailand” by Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS)

For more information about the conference, please visit this link here.

Abstract for Flooding disaster, people’s displacement and state response: A case study of Hat Yai Municipality, Thailand

by Carl Middleton, Orapan Pratomlek*

Hat Yai City in Songkhla Province, Southern Thailand has regularly experienced flooding, with major floods most recently in 1988, 2000 and 2010. Each flood caused loss of life, as well as significant economic damage and disruption to people’s lives, including displacement. The government’s response has evolved over time, as has its capacity to respond. Recovery responses in 1988 and 2000 emphasized investment in hard infrastructure (canals and embankments) to redirect flood water around the city, and to manage flood water better within it. The 2010 flood, however, led to the realization that it was not possible to fully “flood-proof” the city, leading to investment in soft infrastructure in an approach that has become known as the ‘Hat Yai model.’ This includes: improved flood warning; and strengthening local government, community, civil society and business capacity to live with floods and manage displacement locally over the several days that flooding occurs.

In this presentation, we critically evaluate the Hat Yai model, with a focus on how it has progressively reduced the extent that displacement occurs during flooding, and how preparedness measures have addressed displacement when it does occur. Our research is based on key informant interviews and indepth community interviews conducted in 2018. Overall, we find that the Hat Yai model demonstrates the positive efforts of the government and non-state actors to improve community resilience and address flood-induced displacement through hard and soft infrastructure means. Yet, there are still unresolved issues including: how the protection of Hat Yai city comes at the expense of prolonged or exacerbated flooding in other areas nearby to the city (i.e. risk redistribution); and that there remain especially marginalized communities in the city who regularly experience flooding with displacement with little state support or prospect for durable solutions.

*Center of Excellence on Resource Politics for Social Development, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University (Carl.Chulalongkorn@gmail.com)

UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE SESSION: Political ecology, water, and the hydrosocial cycle [22 June 2018]

Session organized for the “POLLEN18: Political Ecology, the Green Economy, and Alternative Sustainabilities” conference

8:30-10:00, 22 June 2018, Pilestredet 35, Room 35-PI 556, Oslo Metropolitan University

Presenters:

• “Dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t? Mixed methods approaches in understanding the links between poverty and inequality and dam construction” by Lucy Goodman (Cambridge University)
• “How river basins in Thailand and Japan relate: Politicizing virtual water through a hydrosocial lens” by Carl Middleton (Chulalongkorn University) and Takeshi Ito (Sophia University)
• “Living with floods in a mobile Southeast Asia: A political ecology of vulnerability, migration and environmental change” by Becky Elmhirst (University of Brighton)

Conference details are available here.

IN THE NEWS: 'Climate disaster looms for SE Asia'

International and regional researchers at a Panel Discussion organized by SEA Junction in Bangkok have urged governments in Southeast Asia to prioritise creating climate change resilience for their citizens, as the region faces risks of more greater and more intense natural disasters….

Referring to “Living With Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia”, a recent publication to which researchers from SEI-Asia and Chulalongkorn University contributed, Torre stressed how policy and disaster responses centering mainly, if not only, on relocation or disaster risk mitigation are likely to fail in the long term.  To be successful in reducing vulnerabilities, these actions must consider, among others, mobility patterns and causes, livelihood strategies as well as historical sources of poverty and inequality.

Read more here

Visit our project webpage on Living with Floods in Southeast Asia here.

IN THE NEWS: "'Living with Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia': A book review"

By Andreea R. Torre [Stockholm Environment Institute Asia, 10 January 2018]

The newly published book, “Living with Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia: A Political Ecology of Vulnerability, Migration and Environmental Change”, sets out to sensitize national and regional policy-agendas and responses to environmental disaster and climate change-related hazards – flood hazards in particular – to the complexities of human mobility in Southeast Asian contexts.

Co-edited by Carl Middleton, Rebecca Elmhirst, and Supang Chantavanich the volume uses empirical urban and rural case studies from eight different countries - Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia - to offer a nuanced and plural account of the causes and the multiple and intersecting environmental, social and political factors shaping everyday experiences of “living with floods” and mobility in the region.

Disaster responses and policy agendas centering mainly on relocation to physically safer places without considering patterns of mobility, livelihood strategies and security cannot be successful (Source: SEI Asia)

Buy the book: "Living with floods in a mobile Southeast Asia" (Routledge, 2017).

Read full article at: https://www.sei-international.org/gender-social-equity/blogs/3843--living-with-floods-in-a-mobile-southeast-asia-a-book-review-

UPCOMING PUBLIC SEMINAR: "Living with Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia” Panel and Book launch [18 December 2017]

 '“Living with Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia" Panel Discussion and Book Launch

18 December 2017, 16:15-17:30 at the Auditorium on the 13th Floor of the Faculty of Political Science Building, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Please join the authors of the newly published book "Living with Floods in a Mobile Southeast Asia: A Political Ecology of Vulnerability, Migration and Environmental Change" for a panel discussion exploring the connections between flooding and migration in Southeast Asia. Four of the authors will present their case studies and policy recommendations, followed by commentary by Mr. Apichai Sunchindah and Ms. Sarah Koeltzow (Platform on Disaster Displacement). The panel aims to sensitize flood hazard policy agendas to the complexities of migration and mobility in Southeast Asia through exploring the relationship between migration, vulnerability, resilience and social justice.

The session will be moderated by book author and faculty member Asst. Prof. Dr. Naruemon Thabchumpon. Case study presenters are:

Philippines: Dr. Bernadette Resurreccion (SEI-Asia Center)
Laos: Dr. Albert Salamanca (SEI-Asia Center)
Thailand: Narumon Arunotai (CUSRI, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University)
Cambodia: Asst. Prof Dr. Carl Middleton (CSDS, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University) 

Please register for this event at https://tinyurl.com/ChulaEvent2017

For further information on the event or to make requests for interviews with the authors, please contact Robert Irven at csds.chulalongkorn@gmail.com

Helicopter survey of flooding in suburban Greater Bangkok, 2011 (Source: WikiCommons)

UPCOMING PUBLIC SEMINAR: "Water scarcity and disaster recovery in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar: Technical problem or governance challenge?" [5 July 2017]

14:00-16:00, Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Co-organized by the Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and the Master of Arts in International Development Studies of the Faculty of Political Science Chulalongkorn University.

This event will be broadcast on Facebook live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

Introduction

Hakha town is the capital of Chin State, Myanmar, located in the mountainous Northwest of the country. Chin State is one of the poorest states in Myanmar, including in terms of economy, basic infrastructure, and access to health care and education. This reflects a lack of long-term investment in basic services, as well as being the product of Myanmar’s long-standing conflict.

In recent years, the town’s population has faced growing water insecurity. This has created great hardships for the local population, especially in the dry season. For those who cannot access water from private springs, or afford to buy water, they must queue sometimes for hours to collect relatively small amounts of water. This situation has caused discontent towards the Municipal, State and Union level government, and has also on occasion caused conflict amongst the local population themselves.

Compounding the difficulties faced by Hakha’s population, in June 2015, Hakha town suffered a major landslide. As a result, over 4000 people living in at-risk places were moved, many permanently to a new settlement. In the settlement, the government has provided land or houses, yet basic services including water and schools were lagging behind. In the longer-term, the resettled people, who are mostly farmers, are uncertain about how they can make a living without access to farming land, and a perceived limited support from the government.

Research presented at the seminar will show how water insecurity is the product of physical, social and political processes that are inter-related, including: rising water demand due to a growing population without systematic town planning; deforestation of the surrounding watershed which has reduced water supply; and underinvestment in water supply infrastructure. The seminar will explore the underlying causes of these dynamics, as a basis for deliberating approaches to ensure equitable and reliable water access for all of Hakha’s residents.

Seminar speakers

• “Water insecurity in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar” by Asst. Prof. Dr. Carl Middleton (Director of CSDS) and Orapan Pratomlek (CSDS project coordinator)
• “Prospects for improved water security: Municipal water, watershed protection, and urban planning” Van Bawi Lian (CSDS researcher)
• “Lessons learned from landslide disaster recovery in Hakha town, and how to strengthen resilience” by Hlawn Tin Cuai (Master Student of Architecture (IMARCH), Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University; and ex- Operation Manager of Hakha Rescue Committee, September 2015 to February 2016)
• Discussant: Pastor Lai Cung (Hakhathar Baptist Church)
• Chair: Asst. Prof. Dr. Naruemon Thabchumpon (Director of MAIDS Program, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University)
• Opening remarks: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean of Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University (t.b.c.)

For further details on CSDS’s research on Water governance and access to water in Hakha Town, Chin State, Myanmar, visit here: http://www.csds-chula.org/water-security-in-hakha/

This research is supported by Chula UniSearch under the Human Security Cluster.