Power dynamics and integration in the water-energy-food nexus: Learning lessons for transdisciplinary research in Cambodia

Bréthaut, Christian; Gallagher, Louise; Dalton, James; Allouche, Jérémy

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2019.01.010

Cited by 41 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Power constellations within TD projects vary according to the prevailing knowledge hegemonies and hierarchies in the socio-political context as well as the dominant knowledge regimes and value orders entrenched in the academic context [34]. Thus, our analysis reinforces previous calls for considering both structure and agency in order to understand power dynamics in TD settings [23].…”

Section: Context Embeddedness Of Sources Of Powersupporting

confidence: 71%

“…In line with this view of the significance of power at the research-practice interface, scholars have increasingly stressed the need to recognise the entanglements of power and participation in TD research [10,[23][24][25]. Previous studies have examined how power relations among researchers [26], between researchers and practitioners, and among practitioners influence processes and outcomes of participation in research [10,27,28].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Whose knowledge, whose values? An empirical analysis of power in transdisciplinary sustainability research

Fritz

Binder

2020

Eur J Futures Res

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The participation of practitioners in transdisciplinary sustainability research has been heralded as a promising tool for producing 'robust' knowledge and engendering societal transformations. Although transdisciplinary approaches have been advanced as an effective avenue for generating knowledge positioned to question and transform an unsustainable status quo, the political and power dimensions inherent to such research have hardly been discussed. In this article, we scrutinise the constitution of participation in transdisciplinary research through a power lens. Guided by social theories of power and a relational understanding of participation, we analyse how diverse actors equipped with a variety of material and ideational sources wield power over the subjects, objects, and procedures of participation. We applied a qualitative meta-analysis of five transdisciplinary projects from a major German research funding programme in the field of sustainability to unveil the ways in which the funding body, researchers, and practitioners exercise instrumental, structural, and discursive power over (i) actor selection and (re-)positioning, (ii) agenda setting, and (iii) rule setting. We found that researchers primarily exert instrumental power over these three elements of participation, whereas practitioners as well as the funding body wield primarily structural and discursive power. By elucidating tacit and hidden power dynamics shaping participation in transdisciplinary research, this article provides a basis for improving process design and implementation as well as developing targeted funding instruments. The conclusions also provide insights into barriers of participatory agenda setting in research practice and governance.

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Section: Context Embeddedness Of Sources Of Powersupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whose knowledge, whose values? An empirical analysis of power in transdisciplinary sustainability research

Fritz

Binder

2020

Eur J Futures Res

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“…Finally, WEF nexus governance research is increasingly concerned with questions of participation. WEF nexus governance requires complex adaptation among a large set of stakeholders with all the attendant uncertainties, politics, and power dynamics (Allouche et al, ; Foran, ; Gallagher et al, ). We now understand that tracing causes of problems and potential responses in WEF nexus governance requires transdisciplinary systems thinking (Hagemann & Kirschke, ; Howarth & Monasterolo, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can be useful to address the complexity of stakes in WEF nexus governance (Halbe et al, ; Howarth & Monasterolo, ; Smajgl & Ward, ). It has been shown to increase understanding of empirical reality and intricacy by integrating different perspectives and narratives related to WEF nexus intersectoral challenges (Gallagher et al, ). It facilitates knowledge sharing and integration (Hagemann & Kirschke, ) and has been used to open new formal or informal deliberations between WEF nexus actors, as well as reinforcing existing science‐policy interfaces (Smajgl et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Navigating this WEF nexus has been an ongoing challenge for the transboundary governance of this globally significant river basin. The CGIAR WLE (CGIAR's Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems) Challenge program on water and food (2002–2013) and subsequent research investments on various dimensions of the Mekong WEF nexus (Gallagher et al, ; Foran, ; Grafton et al, ; Lebel & Lebel, ; Molle, ; Middleton et al, ; Orr et al, ; Pittock et al, ; Smajgl & Ward, ; Smajgl et al, ; Villamayor‐Tomas et al, ) mean this is one of the best researched WEF nexus cases globally. Our Mekong WEF nexus case study is a WEF situation in Kratie Province, Cambodia (Liu et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Participatory Modeling Updates Expectations forIndividuals and Groups, Catalyzing BehaviorChange and Collective Action inWater‐Energy‐Food NexusGovernance

et al. 2019

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Participatory modeling is a potentially high-impact approach for catalyzing fundamental sustainability transformations. We test if participation in a group system dynamics modeling exercise increases participants' agency through a novel method to evaluate potential behavioral change using expectation measures. A water-energy-food nexus-a functionally interdependent but underconceptualized system with low consensus and high scientific uncertainty-was mapped, and its evolution simulated by 46 participants in three interventions in a region undergoing hydropower infrastructure development in Northeastern Cambodia. Participants' system-related expectations were measured before and after the interventions. Our results suggest that participants became significantly more optimistic about their individual agency to increase agricultural and fishing income and, interestingly, less likely to participate in local government development planning procedures. Findings also reveal how some uncertainties for multiple variables were reduced within and across the groups. Such converging expectations suggest that participatory modeling could contribute to making collective solutions and institutionalized agreements more likely. This research contributes to innovation in sustainability because it unpacks some underlying mechanics of how participatory processes can lead to new adaptive capacities, shared perspectives, and collective actions. Plain Language SummaryOur research contributes to understanding actionable knowledge for sustainability using a before-after intervention with fishing and farming community representatives in a situation of conflicting water, energy, food, and livelihoods priorities in rural Cambodia. We explain why reducing uncertainty and building consensus on action through participatory research could potentially catalyze new behavior that promotes sustainability and test how this happens in our intervention. The result is a new and much needed evaluation framework and method for behavioral change outcomes in sustainability interventions.

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Review of the research on hydropolitics in Cambodia

Chu

2022

WIREs Water

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Research on hydropolitics in Cambodia emerged in the early 2000s. Since then, scholars in the field have diversified their analytical approaches and broadened the scope of the issues being examined. However, no systematic review of this body of research has been published until now. Correspondingly and quite simply, the objective of this paper is to review the research on hydropolitics in Cambodia. Through the lens of human security, I argue that the research has relied on a human-centered analytical approach and has, thus, acquired three central characteristics: (1) the human-centered analytical approach gives the research a stronger connection to the reality on the ground than is the case with research rooted in the conventional security approach, which adheres to the Westphalian practice of statism and a militaristic focus; (2) the research has generated some valuable findings (e.g., dam-affected villagers can be their own security contributors; not all environmental nongovernmental organizations are anti-dam); and(3) the research has generally overlooked the Cambodian People's Party government's alternately pro-dam and anti-dam stances.

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Power dynamics and integration in the water-energy-food nexus: Learning lessons for transdisciplinary research in Cambodia

Cited by 41 publications

References 37 publications

Whose knowledge, whose values? An empirical analysis of power in transdisciplinary sustainability research

Whose knowledge, whose values? An empirical analysis of power in transdisciplinary sustainability research

Participatory Modeling Updates Expectations forIndividuals and Groups, Catalyzing BehaviorChange and Collective Action inWater‐Energy‐Food NexusGovernance

Review of the research on hydropolitics in Cambodia

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