ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the issues, drawing on Swyngedouw's concept of hydro-social scales and the literature on place attachment. It not only illustrates how hydropower dam development disintegrates a local community's ability to manage their surrounding natural resources, but also highlights how attitudes towards dams and emergence of resistance are connected to people's identity in relation to place. The chapter explores how resistance and identity may be linked and therefore are important aspects to consider for governments when planning dams, particularly in areas with ethnic and indigenous communities. Community resistance to the dam was persistent and strong, although the resistance mostly emerged from the Chong community. This was supported by a network of dissident monks organized in Independent Monks Network for Social Justice, the Cambodian Youth Network, and domestic and international NGOs. The chapter shows that traditional compensation and resettlement packages – which typically target assets that can be expressed in monetary terms – have limitations when cultural aspects are involved.
