IN THE NEWS: Dams and droughts, data and diplomacy in the Mekong

The 2019-2020 drought-affected huge numbers of riparian fishers and farmers in the Mekong Basin. Fishers in northeast Thailand and Cambodia reported drastic declines in fish catches in the Mekong’s tributaries while many farmers in Cambodia and Vietnam deserted their farms to find jobs in urban areas.

“Water diplomacy is emerging in the region, but it is very state-centric and downplays the role of non-state actors including civil society groups and local community groups”, said Dr. Middleton, director of the Center for Social Development Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

For the full article please click the link here.

UPCOMING EVENT: The Mekong, China, & SE Asian Transitions Series-Mekong Dams: Debates and the Politics of Evidence [Online, 29 April 2021]

07.00-08.30 am BKK Time, Thursday, 29 April 2021 via Zoom

Carl Middleton from CSDS will be one of the panelists

In recent decades, people living in the Lower Mekong Region have witnessed major shifts from predominantly subsistence agriculture to industrializing economies, with attendant changes in migration, crop production systems, and major infrastructure (roads, dams, industrial estates). This series of four webinars will explore how communities in the region are experiencing the economic, social, and cultural dislocations of these transformations.

Full webinar series schedule:

• Panel 1 : Jan 27 - Markets for Mekong Commodities

• Panel 2 : Feb 24 - Migration, Mobility, and the Mekong

• Panel 3 : Apr 7 - The Spirits and Spiritual Life of the Mekong

• Panel 4: Apr 28 - Mekong Dams: Debates and the Politics of Evidence

Carl will be one of the panelists on Panel 4.

To register for this event, please visit the Zoom link here. For more information about this event, please visit the organizer’s website here.

This event is organized by Asian Studies Center at Michigan State University.