IN THE NEWS: Book review of Knowing the Salween River

A book review has been written by Stew Motta in Water Alternatives journal on “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River” edited by Carl Middleton and Vanessa Lamb. The book was the result of a research project co-organized by CSDS and the York Center for Asian Research (see here). The book is published as open access and is available for download here.

The review identifies the book as “the first book of its type on the Salween River and represents a landmark contribution in understanding the diverse knowledge types and complex governance issues at play in that region.”

Read the full review in Water Alternatives here.

UPCOMING EVENT: 3rd International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies [Online, 5-7 March 2021]

12:30-14:00 Myanmar / 13:00-14:30 Thailand on 5 March, 2021, Online and at Chiang Mai University, Thailand

Carl Middleton (CSDS) and Vanessa Lamb (University of Melbourne) will convene a roundtable session titled: “Knowing the Salween River: Reflections on activism, resource politics and peace” for the 3rd International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies. The session will be held on 12:30-14:00 Myanmar / 13:00-14:30 Thailand on 5 March, 2021.

The Salween River basin, shared by Myanmar/Burma, Thailand and China, is dynamic system and a site of long-standing contests over territories, resources, and governance. More recently, it is also increasingly recognised as a site for peace and collaborative water governance. This panel will provide inter-disciplinary perspectives by civil society and academic researchers on the unfolding dynamics on the Salween River in and from Myanmar and in a regional context. We will discuss the politics, activism, and policies linked to intensifying resource extraction, hydropower dam construction as well as conservation and development schemes, and how this is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance and activist networks. Panellists were all contributors and researchers linked to the 2019 collaborative book, “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”, which was also the first book dedicated to understanding this complex river system.

Panelists

 Speakers:

• April Kyu Kyu, Researcher, SaNaR (Save the Natural Resource)

• Saw John Bright

• Pianporn Deetes, Thailand and Myanmar Campaigns Director, International River

• Alec Scott, Independent Researcher

Discussant:

• Professor Saw Win, Senior Research Associate, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University 

Co-Chairs:

• Vanessa Lamb, Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, University of Melbourne

• Carl Middleton, Director, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

The conference will be hybrid: 80% online and 20% onsite. As most sessions will be organized online, the registration fee is waived for all conference participants. All participants, please register here to participate in the conference.

For more information about this conference, please visit the organizer’s website here.

The International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies was first organized in July 2015 at Chiang Mai University in collaboration with the University of Mandalay. ICBMS was attended by 543 participants from 29 countries, with 48 sessions of paper presentation and 7 roundtables. The conference brought together scholars, researchers, journalists, NGO workers and observers from Burma/Myanmar, as well as from around the world to engage in discussion on Myanmar’s transition.

ICBMS is organized every two years, with Chiang Mai University and the University of Mandalay taking turns as conference host, and with the possibility of extending collaboration with other universities in both Myanmar and Thailand.

ICBMS3 will happen onsite, in person, at Green Nimman CMU (Uniserv), in Chiang Mai, from 5-7 March 2021.

IN THE NEWS: Book Review 'Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River' from Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography

By Coleen Fox [Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography]

In the last chapter of Knowing the Salween River, Nang Shining, a Shan woman living and working near the site of a proposed dam in Myanmar, writes of the frustration that communities feel when they are not consulted about projects affecting their lives and livelihoods. She discusses her efforts to create networks of young people across borders and basins, which is part of an effort to bring more voices to the decision-making process in the pursuit of social justice and sustainable development. Nang Shining’s story captures well the tensions that characterize resource politics in the Salween—while powerful national and regional actors push development and exclude local communities from meaningful participation, those same communities, supported by academics and civil society, work tirelessly to have their concerns acknowledged.

Knowing the Salween River sheds light on exactly these sorts of dynamics, revealing the multiple ways that institutions, academics, communities, and civil society organizations research and understand the river basin.

***

Read the full review here.

Carl Middleton of CSDS is co-editor and co-author of this book (see here)

Get the book: Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River (Springer Open, 2019)

UPCOMING EVENT: "Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River"

Saturday, 7 September 2019, Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

Co-organized by Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and Salween Studies Network

The Salween River, shared by China, Myanmar, and Thailand, is increasingly at the heart of pressing regional development debates. The basin supports the livelihoods of over 10 million people, and within it there is great socioeconomic, cultural and political diversity. The basin is witnessing intensifying dynamics of resource extraction, alongside large dam construction, conservation and development intervention, that is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance. With a focus on the contested politics of water and associated resources in the Salween basin, in this seminar we will explore the possible futures of the Salween basin through the lens of: resource politics; politics of knowledge making; and reconciling knowledge across divides. The seminar will also launch the new book: “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”.

Program and List of Panelists:

08.30 - 09.00  Registration

09.00 - 09.15  Welcome remarks 

• Dr. Ake Tangsupvattana, Dean, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

09.15 - 10.30  Panel 1: Resource politics and the Salween River

Chair: Vanessa Lamb, University of Melbourne

• “From Hydropower Construction to National Park Creation: Changing Pathways of the Nu River” by Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University [with Chen Xiangxue]

• “Hydropower Politics and Conflict on the Salween River” by Alec Scott, Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) [with Carl Middleton and Vanessa Lamb]

• “Local Context, National Law: The Rights of Karen People on the Salween River in Thailand“ by Laofang Bundidterdsakul, Legal Advocacy Center for Indigenous Communities (LACIC)

10.30 - 10.45 Coffee Break

10.45 - 12.00 Panel 2: Politics of knowledge making

Chair: Professor Saw Win, Retired Rector of Maubin University

• “An Ethnobotanical Survey in Shan State, Myanmar: Where Thanlwin Biodiversity, Health, and Deforestation Meet” by Mar Mar Aye, Lashio University [with with Swe Swe Win]

• ‘'Not only Anti-dam: Simplistic Rendering of Complex Salween Communities in Their Negotiation for Development in Thailand” by Paiboon Hengsuwan, Chiang Mai University

• “Opportunities and Challenges for Salween Water Governance: Lessons learned from Daw La Lake and Kaw Ku Island, Karen State” by Saw Tha Phoe

12.00 - 13.00 Lunch

13.00 - 13.15 Short film showing: “Salween Stories” with introduction by Carl Middleton

13.15 - 14.30 Panel 3: Reconciling knowledge across divides

Chair: John Dore, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia

• “A State of Knowledge of the Salween River: An Overview of Civil Society Research” by Vanessa Lamb, University of Melbourne [with Carl Middleton, Saw John Bright, Saw Tha Phoe, Naw Aye Aye Myaing, Nang Hom Kham, Sai Aum Khay, Nang Sam Paung Hom, Nang Aye Tin, Nang Shining, Yu Xiaogang, Chen Xiangxue and Chayan Vaddhanaphuti]

• “Fisheries and Socio-economic Change in the Thanlwin River Estuary in Mon and Kayin State, Myanmar” by Cherry Aung, Pathein University

• “The Impact of Land Cover Changes on Socio-economic Conditions in Bawlakhe District, Kayah State” by Khin Sandar Aye, Loikaw University [with Khin Khin Htay]

14.30 - 14.45 Coffee Break

14.45 - 16.00 Panel 4: The future of the Salween River: Policy, politics, and practice

Chair: Carl Middleton, Chulalongkorn University

• “Positioning the Salween in Myanmar’s River Politics” by Khin Maung Lwin, Advisor to the National Water Resources Committee, Myanmar

• “What’s Next for the River? Is the Thanlwin ‘Under Threat’ or ‘on the Thread’” by Nang Shining, Weaving Bonds Across Borders and Mong Pan Youth Association

• “Salween as a Site for Transboundary Justice and Activism” by Pianporn Deetes, International Rivers

16.00 - 16.30 Book Launch and Concluding Remarks

This event will be broadcasted on Facebook Live: www.facebook.com/CSDSChula/

To register for this forum, please e-mail us your name, organisation, and position to  Anisa Widyasari (CSDS) at communications.csds@gmail.com. The seat is limited and registration will be accepted on first come first served basis. 

For the most updated information, you can also visit the event’s landing page here.

UPCOMING EVENT: "Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River"

Saturday, 7 September 2019, Alumni Meeting Room, 12th Floor, Kasem Utthayanin Building (อาคารเกษม อุทยานิน), Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (guide to the venue here)

Co-organized by Center for Social Development Studies (CSDS) and Salween Studies Network

The Salween River, shared by China, Myanmar, and Thailand, is increasingly at the heart of pressing regional development debates. The basin supports the livelihoods of over 10 million people, and within it there is great socioeconomic, cultural and political diversity. The basin is witnessing intensifying dynamics of resource extraction, alongside large dam construction, conservation and development intervention, that is unfolding within a complex terrain of local, national and transnational governance. With a focus on the contested politics of water and associated resources in the Salween basin, in this seminar we will explore the possible futures of the Salween basin through the lens of: resource politics; politics of knowledge making; and reconciling knowledge across divides. The seminar will also launch the new book: “Knowing the Salween River: Resource Politics of a Contested Transboundary River”.

For more information about this seminar, please contact communications.csds@gmail.com.

For the most updated information, you can also visit the event’s landing page here.

IN THE NEWS: "Salween Local Research Exhibition at Thai Studies Conference"

By Panglong Video [Shan Herald Agency, 18 July 2017]

Video about the Salween local research exhibition at the Thai Studies conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand from 15 to 18 July 2017. 

See the video at: https://www.facebook.com/PangLongOnlineVideo/videos/1180336375403816/