Project Title:

International Seminar on Cultural Diversity of the Mekong River: Sharing Experiences from Japan and the Mekong Countries

Organizer:

Co-organizers :

Social Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University
Japan Watch Project, Thammasat University
Faculty of Law, Ubon Ratchathani University
Mekong Regional Studies Institute, Ubon Ratchathani University
M-POWER

Supporter :

Japan Foundation
Thailand Research Fund

Background:

The Mekong River serves as the life blood for over 60 million people, flowing through a region rich in ethnic and cultural diversity, ancient and modern civilizations, and supporting myriad livelihoods, trade routes, and biohabitats. Home to over seventy different ethnic groups, the river forms an intrinsic part of Southeast Asian society, the cultural and ecological heart of mainland Southeast Asia.

The Mekong river originates on the Tibetan plateau, its flow connecting China and Southeast Asia physically and historically. The downstream Mekong region comprises a common cultural area consisting of the modern-day nation-states of Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Each span of the river basin supports a unique part of Mekong culture. The river sustains the livelihoods, norms, rituals, customs and communities central to the formation of the Mekong regionalism. The diversity of Mekong cultures is the most salient characteristic of the basin; highly diverse ethnic groups speaking languages from five different language families; monumental histories marking the waxing and waning of great civilizations and witnessing the transformations of a continent from kingdoms to modern nation-states. Cultural continuity across generations depends on the livelihoods sustained by the rivers resources: its fish, its water, its affordance as a means of transportation and trade. Despite its vast cultural diversity, there are also marked cultural commonalities: Buddhism in particular has been a unifying force and one undergirding the cultural integrity of the Mekong as a region, at least in the lowlands. Other forms of religious belief and rituals involving the river also serve to unite disparate highland and lowland cultures, creating a unity amidst the diversity of Mekong peoples.

The enormous cultural diversity of the region including groups like the Hmong, Mien, Khmu, Tai-Lao, Cham, Khmer, Kinh, Jarai, Kuay, Stieng, Tampuan, just to name a few and the vast disparities in livelihoods, economic development and access to social resources have, predictably, both caused and resulted in disputes over natural resources and rights to their use. Competition over the Mekongs resources is increasingly fierce, with different cultures making different demands based on their particular socioeconomic practices and societal needs. Ranging from the smallest of subsistence forest dwellers to massive multinational conglomerates and the competing needs of nation-states, the claims being made to riparian resources are vastly different in scale, style, and urgency.

Cultures living along the Mekong have all developed their own systems for understanding, managing, and valuing natural resources, systems which are, to varying degrees, interdependent. With recent dramatic expansions in population and with the relatively sudden reorganization of economics into an ever more global regimen, the resources of the river and the indigenous systems for maintaining them have come under incredible pressure and strain. Many livelihoods that have persisted for centuries are suddenly becoming unviable and eclipsed by alternate forms within a global capitalist system. The river and its resources are being redefined and expropriated by actors often from far afield, who just a few decades ago had little or no interest in the river and who appeared to Mekong people as remote and inconsequential. Now the river is being managed and developed by forces and people who may have no direct presence among those living along the river itself. Local control of resources has passed out of local hands, and this disenfranchisement and disempowerment has led to frustration, anger and discontent. Upstream and downstream relations, often taken for granted as remote and disconnected, now prove to be urgent matters which directly impact the very flow and viability of the river itself. Among the most critical such hotspots are the Tonle Sap biosphere in Cambodia, Sipandone wetlands in Laos, the Mekong Delta in lower Vietnam, and the Mun River watershed in northeastern Thailand. Each of these illustrate the importance and centrality of Mekong resources, especially the biodiversity of fisheries, upon which people have relied for millennia and the rapid and drastic way such resources can be endangered by global forces acting on very local contexts.

Understanding the factors influencing the changes in Mekong culture and peoples adaptation to such changes can be fostered through open and frank dialogue. Only through such dialogue will Mekong societies, and broader Asian and Southeast Asian societies at large, be able to ensure peace and co-prosperity in the region. The use or exploitation of resources in any one area of the Mekong now becomes an issue among all cultures and ethnicities dependent on the river. Open-minded debate and a willingness to learn and understand each other is absolutely critical to the regions immediate future stability.

Current subregional cooperation in the Mekong region is predicated on policy coordination among states in a circumscribed space. The cooperation process between the Mekong countries is currently envisioned as broader intra-regional projects rather than as a form of integration within the area it delineates. Japan and Western countries have, as donors, encouraged the Lower Mekong countries to promote subregionalism. Prominent among these are the Swedish government, the Danish government, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank; Japan, too, has been a key donor in the region and has emphasized alleviating poverty of the Mekong people by promoting infrastructure to facilitate trade in the region. Japan has a long history of economic support in the region, though initiatives that have brought tremendous growth. At this seminar, we propose to share the lessons of Japaneses experiences in promoting subregional growth, including the subregionalism perspectives, with relevant local and Southeast Asian stakeholders. This intention forms a central part of the proposed seminar.

The Mekong regions integration into global economics and politics prompts us to offer a conference motif: Talk globally and act regionally. The aim is to reconcile the different scales of development and resource management, between the global and the local, and to ensure that local voices and perceptions are not ignored or drowned out by dominant discourses of international development and nation-state politics. We aim to facilitate open dialogue targeting the impacts of regionalism and regionalization among Mekong cultures and societies. We want to integrate the voices of international and local expertise, and thereby reconcile and empower both. Our seminar aims to stimulate the open sharing of different perspectives and learning in order to envision alternate forms of globalization which allow more space for local voices. We want to promote regionalization in Southeast Asia in a way that includes more than the voices of elite powerbrokers. Given Japans leadership and innovation in many of these areas and Japanese commitment to the Mekong region, we aim in particular to foster connections between Japanese expertise and local expertise to realize these goals.

Underlying concepts and approach of the seminar, learning points and sharing perspectives

The objective of the seminar is to reemphasize and reevaluate the importance of local cultural and social sensibilities in the Mekong region, as the pace of economic development quickens and the regions incorporation into the global economy intensifies. Local worldviews have been increasingly marginalized in the face of dramatic socioeconomic upheaval, and this has led to social conflict, alienation, and dislocation.

This seminar thus aims to bring together assorted stakeholders selected Japanese and Southeast Asian regional experts, NGOs, and local voices from the Mekong region to discuss and share perspectives on development, cultural change and adaptation, diversity, and the resilience of local livelihoods. We aim to assert local culture and worldview into the discourse of Mekong development, to explore how local knowledge and social organization may be better integrated in regional development practices, and to reinvigorate efforts to revive Mekong regional identity.

Understanding sociocultural change and how people have adapted themselves to emerging conditions is an important area of research. But we submit that it is not only locals who need to adapt and change. Larger stakeholders, wielding large budgets, international support, and powerful discourses of development and economic prosperity must also adapt to local values ways of knowing. Debates on cultural diversity and its meaningful incorporation into development projects can lead to more fruitful economic outcomes and offers a better chance for lasting peace. Creating peace in society is a long term process which requires the engagement of all parties and every sector of society. It requires being flexible and open-minded, innovative and diplomatic. Our seminar proposes to foster peace and understanding by creating dialogue on the following:

• Understanding Mekong culture and its cultural diversity as based on Mekong resources.
• Understanding the dimensions of subregionalism and globalization, and how they impact Mekong resources and the maintenance of local livelihoods. This includes understanding how Mekong cultures have changed and transformed, and incorporates issues of international cross-border cooperation.
• Learning and sharing from countries and experts beyond the region, but who influence Southeast Asian regional economic growth, and understanding the root of conflicts to assist in both prevention and resolution.

To reach the goal of the seminar as laid out, the seminar will invite experts representing different scales of influence, from international, to regional, to local. Topics will be organized in a way to enhance the sharing of perspectives across different panel sessions and topics: globalization and the Mekong culture, enhancing the open dialogue for eliminating Mekong conflicts due to the use of the resource and understanding the differences between cultures that contribute to the Mekong society. Talk globally, Act Regionally as the underlying motif of the seminar will foster an open dialogue for learning and sharing perspectives. Panel sessions at the seminar will address the following topics:

• Globalization, subregionalism and urgent social issues related to the Mekong society and culture.
• The role of Japan in the Mekong region.
• Understanding Mekong ethnicity, race, gender, and cultural difference in the context of conflicts over the use of riparian water resources.
• Promoting local resilience in maintaining indigenous Mekong culture and customs
• Rethinking conflict prevention and conflict resolution across local and global scales in the Mekong region.
• Law and Regulation in the Mekong: Trade and River Management

Summary:

The seminar is intended to be the first of many steps in the effort to make local voices heard and to make local cultural relevant to development discourse. The seminar is being organized by the Mekong Subregion Social Research Center (MSSRC) at Ubon Ratchathani University, whose mission and research foci specifically address Mekong development and local culture issues. As organizers of the seminar, we believe Mekong cultural issues have been neglected in the last few decades, at the same as the region has been targeted for accelerated development. Just when local cultural adaptation should matter most, it has been almost entirely ignored. We believe that this seminar, drawing on and integrating Japanese and local Southeast Asian expertise, can serve as a valuable contribution for revitalizing local cultures and insisting they be made relevant, part and parcel of any development agenda.

We believe that our seminar, as proposed, would resonate strongly with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mekong-Japan Exchange Year 2009, that it is commensurate with the Ministrys goals, and that building networks and alliances among Japanese and Southeast Asian experts would prove enormously beneficial to the people of the Mekong, and to Asia as a whole.

• 1 1/2 day seminar with 100 participants, to be held in Ubon Ratchathani Province, Thailand
• Format: invited seminar with panel sessions and exhibitions

Duration: Thursday 19 - Friday 20 November 2009 [1 1/2 Day seminar]

Objective:

The objective of the seminar is to reemphasize and reevaluate the importance of local cultural and social sensibilities in the Mekong region, as the pace of economic development quickens and the regions incorporation into the global economy intensifies. Local worldviews have been increasingly marginalized in the face of dramatic socioeconomic upheaval, and this has led to social conflict, alienation, and dislocation.

This seminar thus aims to bring together assorted stakeholders selected Japanese and Southeast Asian regional experts, NGOs, and local voices from the Mekong region to discuss and share perspectives on development, cultural change and adaptation, diversity, and the resilience of local livelihoods. We aim to assert local culture and worldview into the discourse of Mekong development, to explore how local knowledge and social organization may be better integrated in regional development practices, and to reinvigorate efforts to revive Mekong regional identity.

The premises underlying the seminar include:

• That it is critical to understand Mekong cultures and their reliance on Mekong river resources.
• That it is important to reconcile and integrate the perspectives of localism, subregionalism, and globalization, and mitigate the impacts that regional development has on indigenous cultures and livelihoods.
• That learning and sharing among governors, funding supporters, scholars, experts and locals from the region and from supporting countries like Japan is a crucial way to ensure regional peace, economic prosperity, cultural dignity, and human rights in the Mekong region.

Main Participants: 100 participants: Japanese and Mekong Countries academics, government officials, NGOs, and representatives from Japan organizations.

Expected Outcomes:

Our key objective is to reassert the importance of Mekong culture into the discourses and debates surrounding development. We believe this seminar will contribute to that goal by fostering dialogue and professional relationships among interested experts and local stakeholders. This seminar will serve as the basis for durable future collaborations, research, and information exchange. The MSSRC, as organizers of the seminar, also intend to produce an edited volume (Proceedings) based on the panel presentations. We also expect substantial media coverage and publicity among interested organizations that will emphasize our focus on Mekong culture and our collaboration with the Japan foundation and our participation in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mekong-Japan Exchange Year 2009