Challenging hydropower development in Myanmar (Burma): cross-border activism under a regime in transition

Abstract

Although general elections in Myanmar (Burma) in November 2010 have transformed the political landscape, many of the characters remain the same. While there is evidence of incremental domestic political openings many of the political constraints that existed during military rule remain in force. As a consequence of decades of military authoritarian governance and civil conflict, it is Myanmar's contested ethnic borderlands that have been the important locales for the development of environmental movements, despite increased recent domestic activity. This article analyses a case study of the largely cross-border campaign against hydropower dams on the Salween River in Myanmar and finds that through the suppression of opposition and dissent at home the regime has stimulated the creation of an ‘activist diaspora’, a dynamic transnational community of expatriates who engage in environmental activism beyond the reach of the regime. Due to their relative freedom on the border and in Thailand this community has developed expertise and international networks that have proved crucial in communicating the social and environmental impacts of hydropower development in Myanmar to the international community. Through increased cooperation with an expanding domestic civil society this established activist community is stimulating improved environmental governance of hydropower development and simultaneously assisting in the creation of a more open and democratic Myanmar.     

Historical and contemporary views of social control,race, crime,and justice

This volume is a special issue commemorating Black History Month in the United States. The five papers contained in the volume address a wide variety of issues in the area of race, crime, and justice.     

Design for development: a review of emerging methodologies

This article reviews current methodologies for the design of development projects and identifies foundational reasons for conflict between design approaches and participatory methods. A number of alternative approaches to the design of interventions in social systems are examined, and the potential application of some of these new ideas within a visioning process that is based on communicative rationality is explored. We conclude that there are many problems to be overcome before describing a complete design methodology which moves away from the objectivist basis of existing design systems, and that the new approach will need to address power relationships and the consequent and interrelated problems of accountability and trust.     

Judicial Control of the CAC

This article both analyses the courts' decisions on applicationsfor judicial review of CAC determinations under the trade unionrecognition procedure in Schedule A1 to the Trade Union andLabour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 from 2000 to 2006and compares this body of case law with the courts' decisionsin the late 1970s and early 1980s on applications for judicialreview of both decisions of ACAS under the recognition procedurein the Employment Protection Act 1975 and decisions of the CACunder various legislative provisions in that earlier period.It suggests that there is a marked difference in judicial approachand that this reflects a difference in the policies underlyingthe legislation of the two periods, with the more radical aimsof the earlier period attracting a less sympathetic and moreinterventionist judicial response than has been evident in relationto the Schedule A1 recognition procedure.     

Fair Treatment or Preferred Outcome? The Impact of Police Behavior on Victim Reports of Domestic Violence Incidents

This research is an exploratory test of two hypotheses emerging from debates about how police behavior may influence domestic violence victim reporting. From a procedural justice perspective, victims should be more apt to report victimization when previous encounters with police are viewed as procedurally fair. From a distributive justice perspective, denying victims their preferred outcome may discourage future police utilization. We find that satisfaction with police is related to both distributive and procedural justice but that re-utilization of police is conditioned by preferred outcome. Specifically, if the offender was arrested in accordance with victim preference, the victim is significantly more apt to utilize police in the future.