Globalization, Regionalization, and Hydroelectric Development on the Lancang

Abstract

"'Globalization' has become a buzzword in recent years denoting (among other things) the rapid and geographically widespread increase in capital mobility and the growing clarity of a spatial division of labor that spans the globe. Samuel Kim (2000) defines globalization as "a series of complex, independent yet interrelated processes of stretching, intensifying, and accelerating worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of human relations and transactions" (p. 10, italics mine). This paper uses a political ecology approach to briefly explore the dynamics of hydroelectric projects on the Lancang (Mekong) River in Yunnan Province as they relate to China's integration into the processes of the global economic system. The strength of a political ecology approach lies in its attention to the linkages between local decisions about natural resource use and the political economic processes of global capital. I argue that the hydroelectric projects in question provide a clear window through which to view these linkages to economic processes being played out both on a regional and global scale."