Author: Phan Thi Ngoc Thuy
AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no.GD-16-04
Year: 2016
Academic Program: Gender and Development Studies (GDS)
Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 2016
Examination Committee: Philippe Doneys (Chairperson); Kyoko Kusakabe, Clemens Grunbuhel, Avilash Roul (Examination Committee Members)
Abstract: Aiming to become a full-fledged industrial country by 2020, Vietnam has been pursuing a growing number of economic models fueled by an array of huge hydropower plants which impacts severely on the environment and society. Hydropower dam constructions have displaced hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority people who are often living in remote mountainous areas. The Song Bung 4 hydropower project (SB4HP) is the first hydropower project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam and the ADB is cautiously making the SB4HP “a leading example for future hydropower projects†(ADB, 2015). The overall research objective of this study is to analyze the gender dimensions of the involuntary resettlement process of an ethnic minority community in the SB4HP areas. As an attempt to provide a gender analysis of hydropower development in Vietnam, this research draws a detailed analysis of the gender impacts of hydropower constructions in the country and contribute empirically to the ongoing discourse on hydropower development in the Greater Mekong Sub region. This research uses the “livelisystems†approach of Adrew Dorward to understand the interactive processes of change in social–ecological systems in the resettlement context of the Cotu ethnic minority group. The displaced people are under tremendous stress due to the lack of traditional livelihood, acceptable alternative livelihood and inexperienced cash compensation management. Moreover, being resettled near the majority group, Co Tu people have converted their traditional culture gradually into Kinh’s practice. This sparks the question of the linkage between unsustainable livelihood, cultural transformation and gender relations. In parallel, this research will provide an analysis of the effectiveness of ADB’s policy on gender and resettlement.
Scholarship Donor(s): Consortium of Development Studies in Southeast Asia (CDSSEA-IDRC), Thailand
Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Gender and Development Studies, School of Environment, Resources and Development
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