ABSTRACT
The proposed Nam Theun II Dam in Laos1 has been subject to an unprecedented degree of study, scrutiny and standard setting. It is a project with significant environmental and human rights implications that have become hotly contested at various levels. Recent attempts to apply the findings and recommendations of the World Commission on Dams study to Nam Theun II are but the latest example of international and global institutions’ attempt to use this project to try out hitherto little-tested procedures for assessment and planning, particularly in a country with poorly developed civil society such as Laos. Ironically, an outcome of this process has been the elaboration of plans and processes that have engaged rather superficially with Lao social and political currents.
