Dams, diversions and development: Slow resistance and authoritarian rule in the Salween River Basin

Keywords: Resistance, authoritarianism, temporality, slowness, Salween, Thailand
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 60

Abstract

Research on resistance in human geography largely examines overt and immediate forms in more liberal contexts. Diverse practices of resistance in authoritarian contexts–which are often protracted and not centrally organised–have been undertheorised, as have the complexity of authoritarian contexts themselves. We bring together the literature on temporality and resistance in human geography to develop the concept of ‘slow resistance.’ We do this by examining two large-scale water infrastructure projects in the transboundary Salween River Basin in the Thai-Myanmar(Burma) borderlands. We conducted over 50 interviews with impacted communities, academics, activists and civil society. We find that authoritarianism’s spatial and temporal effects are not uniform and that this shape people’s capacity to participate and resist. We outline three key facets of slow resistance: slow tempos of resistance actions; the protracted duration of resistance movements; and contests over knowledge, which together aim to ‘slow down’ development. This can ‘buy time’ for activists to share information and to organise more effectively, and to develop new lines of inquiry. By paying attention to these overlooked resistance temporalities, we generate new insights on participation and resistance in authoritarian contexts, and the fragmented and uneven nature of authoritarian (state) power and practices at different scales.