One Bridge, Two Towns and Three Countries: Anticipatory Geopolitics in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Lin, Shaun; Grundy‐Warr, Carl

doi:10.1080/14650045.2012.662556

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…At first blush, neoliberalism's 'global vision of almost infinite openness and interdependence' (Roberts et al, 2003: 888) seems to advance freer flows across international borders. Indeed, political geographers have examined various landscapes produced to generate connectivity, including bridges, roads and tunnels that span two states and/or regions (Lin and Grundy-Warr, 2012;Sparke, 2000) and-on a larger scale-cross-border economic zones that facilitate trade between cooperating states (Bunnell et al, 2006;Pavlakovich-Kochi, 2011;Sparke et al, 2004). However, geographers have also pointed out that interstate borders remain integral to a neoliberalising world.…”

Section: David Harvey (2005: 7) Defines Neoliberalism Asmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neoliberal borderscape: Neoliberalism's effects on the social worlds of migrants along the Thai-Myanmar border

Loong

2019

Political Geography

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This paper addresses literature on neoliberalism and borders by discussing the effects of neoliberalism on migrant lives in Mae Sot, a town on the Thai-Myanmar border inhabited by approximately 200,000 migrants from Myanmar. Mae Sot has been an area peripheral to centres of state power since the 1980s.Hence despite being subject to periodic immigration crackdowns, undocumented migrants were able to establish a semi-legal social system along the border comprising schools, clinics, and community organizations, which allowed migrants to access functions ordinarily provided by a state. However, since Myanmar's transition to a nominally civilian government in 2010, neoliberalism has dismantled this quasistate system in two ways. Firstly, Mae Sot has acquired an unprecedented centrality to the Thai state's border development agenda: the once-marginal border area is positioned as a key node in transport networks stretching across mainland Southeast Asia, while migrant labour has been framed as a draw for foreign investors. Secondly, Western donors that have long supported the migrant social system are rerouting their resources to Myanmar's central government, thereby threatening informal processes of social reproduction along the Thai-Myanmar border. Overall, the neoliberal agendas of these actors rearticulate migrants as naked labour: they are increasingly recognised for their ability to work but cut adrift from the social systems they have long relied on. Whereas existing literature argues that neoliberalism has imbued borders with a filtering function through which the mobilities of migrant bodies are managed according to their perceived value to processes of capital accumulation, the full extent of neoliberalism's effects on the Thai-Myanmar border can only be apprehended when one considers how the quasi-state system is being reconfigured-and indeed, rendered increasingly precarious. In other words, the current situation of migrants in Mae Sot compels geographers to consider the effects of neoliberalism on a borderscape constituted by relations between migrants and other borderland actors.

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Section: David Harvey (2005: 7) Defines Neoliberalism Asmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neoliberal borderscape: Neoliberalism's effects on the social worlds of migrants along the Thai-Myanmar border

Loong

2019

Political Geography

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“…A range of political-economic forces influencing the river relate to different geopolitical eras (colonial, Cold War, post-Cold War). A series of geo-economic imaginaries surrounding broader geographical imaginaries of the Mekong basin and borderlands were developed in the late 20th century, such as the Quadrangle Economic Cooperation Zone and the Asian Development Bank's plans for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) (Dwyer, 2020;Fau et al, 2014;Glassman, 2010;Lin and Grundy-Warr, 2012;Sims, 2015).…”

Section: Geopolitics Of Geo-economic Imaginariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Navigating Sino-Thai ‘rocky’ bilateral ties: The geopolitics of riverine trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Lin

Grundy‐Warr

2020

Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space

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The revived plan to dynamite rapids and rocky islets in Chiang Rai province of Thailand as part of an Upper Mekong navigation improvement scheme allowing bigger tonnage Chinese cargo ships to pass more smoothly all the way to Luang Prabang in Laos has been folded into the wider visions of BRI. These rework and invert a geopolitical imaginary that has imperial origins in the Lower Mekong, when the French sought to navigate upstream from Indochina during 19th century explorations. Our paper examines the rock-blasting plans and shifting responses from and relations between Laos and Thailand in light of past and contemporary geopolitical narratives.

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“…In this context, we examine why individuals choose to cross the river in this way, given that bridges exist that allow tourists to cross rivers conveniently, in their vehicles, and at a time of their own choosing (cf. Lin and Grundy-Warr, 2012;Strohmayer, 2011).…”

Section: Rivers Ferries and The Tourist Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Ferries as travelling landscapes: tourism and watery mobilities

McGrath

Harmer

Yarwood

2020

IJCTHR

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to highlight the use of small river ferries as an under-researched but novel mode of travel which enhances and brings new dimensions to tourist experiences of travelling landscapes. Design/methodology/approach The study used a mixed methods approach including participant observation, a survey and interviews with ferry users and staff at one river crossing in South West England. Findings The ferry attracts tourists as a different and practical mode of transport. The river crossing provides an experience of being on water, and the material structure of the ferry significantly shapes on-board interactions whilst providing new perspectives of place. Research limitations/implications This article draws on data collected for a study of ferry crossings conducted at three sites in Devon and Cornwall, England, using multiple methods. The material presented in this article focuses on one site and draws on four interviews, twelve reflection cards and observations. Social implications The research highlighted the extent to which the ferry is dependent on tourist use. At the same time, it reveals the extent to which the crossing enriches the tourist experience and celebrates a ferry’s contribution to local place-making. Originality/value The majority of research on ferry crossings focuses on commuter experiences, marine crossings and larger passenger vessels. This article makes an original contribution to literature on ferries, as it offers a perspective on tourist experiences of river ferry crossings, reveals how the ferry structure influences interrelations on-board and provides distinctive insights into place through a focus on movement across water.

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One Bridge, Two Towns and Three Countries: Anticipatory Geopolitics in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Cited by 15 publications

References 30 publications

The neoliberal borderscape: Neoliberalism's effects on the social worlds of migrants along the Thai-Myanmar border

The neoliberal borderscape: Neoliberalism's effects on the social worlds of migrants along the Thai-Myanmar border

Navigating Sino-Thai ‘rocky’ bilateral ties: The geopolitics of riverine trade in the Greater Mekong Subregion

Ferries as travelling landscapes: tourism and watery mobilities

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