Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance

Understanding the politics of deliberation, scales, and levels is crucial to understanding the social complexity of water-related governance. Deliberative processes might complement and inform more conventional representational and bureaucratic approaches to planning and decision-making. However, th...

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Main Authors: Dore J., Lebel L.
Format: Journal
Published: 2017
Online Access:https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=77955559092&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/43272
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Institution: Chiang Mai University
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spelling th-cmuir.6653943832-432722017-09-28T06:53:23Z Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance Dore J. Lebel L. Understanding the politics of deliberation, scales, and levels is crucial to understanding the social complexity of water-related governance. Deliberative processes might complement and inform more conventional representational and bureaucratic approaches to planning and decision-making. However, they are also subject to scale and level politics, which can confound institutionalized decision-making. Scale and level contests arise in dialogues and related arenas because different actors privilege particular temporal or spatial scales and levels in their analysis, arguments, and responses. Scale contests might include whether to privilege administrative, hydrological, ecosystem, or economic boundaries. Level contests might include whether to privilege the subdistrict or the province, the tributary watershed or the international river basin, a river or a biogeographic region, and the local or the regional economy. In the Mekong Region there is a recurrent demand for water resources development projects and major policies proposed by governments and investors to be scrutinized in public. Deliberative forms of engagement are potentially very helpful because they encourage supporters and critics to articulate assumptions and reasoning about the different opportunities and risks associated with alternative options, and in doing so, they often traverse and enable higher-quality conversations within and across scales and within and between levels. Six case studies from the Mekong Region are examined. We find evidence that scale and level politics affects the context, process, content, and outcomes of deliberative engagement in a region where public deliberation is still far from being a norm, particularly where there are sensitive and far-reaching choices to be made about water use and energy production. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2017-09-28T06:53:23Z 2017-09-28T06:53:23Z 2010-07-01 Journal 0364152X 2-s2.0-77955559092 10.1007/s00267-010-9527-x https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=77955559092&origin=inward http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/43272
institution Chiang Mai University
building Chiang Mai University Library
country Thailand
collection CMU Intellectual Repository
description Understanding the politics of deliberation, scales, and levels is crucial to understanding the social complexity of water-related governance. Deliberative processes might complement and inform more conventional representational and bureaucratic approaches to planning and decision-making. However, they are also subject to scale and level politics, which can confound institutionalized decision-making. Scale and level contests arise in dialogues and related arenas because different actors privilege particular temporal or spatial scales and levels in their analysis, arguments, and responses. Scale contests might include whether to privilege administrative, hydrological, ecosystem, or economic boundaries. Level contests might include whether to privilege the subdistrict or the province, the tributary watershed or the international river basin, a river or a biogeographic region, and the local or the regional economy. In the Mekong Region there is a recurrent demand for water resources development projects and major policies proposed by governments and investors to be scrutinized in public. Deliberative forms of engagement are potentially very helpful because they encourage supporters and critics to articulate assumptions and reasoning about the different opportunities and risks associated with alternative options, and in doing so, they often traverse and enable higher-quality conversations within and across scales and within and between levels. Six case studies from the Mekong Region are examined. We find evidence that scale and level politics affects the context, process, content, and outcomes of deliberative engagement in a region where public deliberation is still far from being a norm, particularly where there are sensitive and far-reaching choices to be made about water use and energy production. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
format Journal
author Dore J.
Lebel L.
spellingShingle Dore J.
Lebel L.
Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance
author_facet Dore J.
Lebel L.
author_sort Dore J.
title Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance
title_short Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance
title_full Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance
title_fullStr Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance
title_full_unstemmed Deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance
title_sort deliberation and scale in mekong region water governance
publishDate 2017
url https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=77955559092&origin=inward
http://cmuir.cmu.ac.th/jspui/handle/6653943832/43272
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