Date &Time: 12:00-13:00, Friday 19th April 2019
Place: Tonan-tei (Room no. 201), on the 2nd floor of Inamori Foundation
Memorial building, CSEAS

Title:
Demarcating public and private in land and environmental governance in the Mekong Region

Presenters:
Emeritus Professor Philip Hirsch, School of Geosciences, University of
Sydney and CSEAS Visiting Research Scholar

Dr. Carl Middleton, Center for Social Development Studies, Faculty of
Political Science, Chulalongkorn University

Abstract:
In this presentation we take a critical look at the context-determined
demarcation between the public and private spheres in the realm of land,
natural resources and environmental governance in the Mekong Region. We
explore the generation of plural meanings of “public” and “private”
through development projects and policies, and the implications that
such meanings hold for: the actor configurations and power relations
that shape how collective and individual interests are defined; how
claims to ownership of resources are formulated and legitimized; the
spaces within which projects can be debated, contested and governed; and
ultimately how benefits, costs and risks are distributed across society.
Hydropower dams and large scale land concessions set the context in
which we examine these issues.

Moderator: Dr. Xiaobo Hua, CSEAS, Kyoto University