University of Dundee DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Going with the flow or swimming against the current? The influence of rules and norms on advocacy strategies of NGO coalitions along the Mekong River Yasuda, Yumiko Award date: 2014 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. Sep. 2021 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Going with the flow or swimming against the current? The influence of rules and norms on advocacy strategies of NGO coalitions along the Mekong River Yumiko Yasuda 2014 University of Dundee Conditions for Use and Duplication Copyright of this work belongs to the author unless otherwise identified in the body of the thesis. It is permitted to use and duplicate this work only for personal and non-commercial research, study or criticism/review. You must obtain prior written consent from the author for any other use. Any quotation from this thesis must be acknowledged using the normal academic conventions. It is not permitted to supply the whole or part of this thesis to any other person or to post the same on any website or other online location without the prior written consent of the author. Contact the Discovery team ([email protected]) with any queries about the use or acknowledgement of this work. Going with the flow or swimming against the current? ~ The influence of rules and norms on advocacy strategies of NGO coalitions along the Mekong River ~ Yumiko Yasuda Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science (under auspices of UNESCO) University of Dundee May 2014 Ⓒ Yumiko Yasuda, 2014. All rights reserved. i Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................ v List of Figures .............................................................................................. vi Acknowledgement ...................................................................................... vii Declaration ................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary ..................................................................................... x List of legal instruments cited .................................................................... xi List of abbreviations ................................................................................. xvi Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................. 1 1.1 Background and justification of the study ........................................... 1 1.1.1 Roles of NGO actors in environmental governance ................. 1 1.1.2 NGOs as promoters of rules and norms .................................... 3 1.1.3 Influence of rules and norms on NGOs ..................................... 5 1.2 Objectives and a research question ...................................................... 6 1.3 Structure of this thesis .......................................................................... 7 PART I: RESEARCH DESIGN ................................................................. 9 Chapter 2 Theoretical overview ................................................................ 10 2.1 Chapter introduction........................................................................... 10 2.2 Understanding rules and norms .......................................................... 10 2.3 Understanding advocacy strategies .................................................... 14 2.3.1 Strategy 1: Use of networks ...................................................... 16 2.3.2 Strategy 2: Use of science ......................................................... 22 2.3.3 Strategy 3: Use of media ........................................................... 24 2.4 Understanding NGOs ......................................................................... 27 2.4.1 Factors influencing NGOs ........................................................ 29 2.4.2 Relevance of the review for this thesis ..................................... 36 2.5 Various approaches used in studying the influence of rules and norms on actors’ behaviours ............................................................................... 36 2.5.1 New Institutionalism ................................................................. 37 2.5.2 Typologies of relationships between formal and informal institutions ........................................................................................... 40 2.5.3 Structure and agency ................................................................ 41 2.5.4 IAD Framework ........................................................................ 44 2.6 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 47 Chapter 3 Methodology ............................................................................. 49 3.1 Chapter introduction........................................................................... 49 3.2 Analytical framework......................................................................... 49 3.3 Research Method ................................................................................ 51 3.3.1 Case study approach ................................................................. 51 3.4 Data Collection and Analysis Strategy .............................................. 53 3.4.1 Desktop document search and literature review .................... 54 ii 3.4.2 Interviews and field observation .............................................. 55 3.4.3 Text analysis using grounded theory approach ..................... 57 3.5 Chapter conclusion ............................................................................. 59 PART II: BIOPHYSICAL AND MATERIAL CONDITIONS, ACTORS, RULES AND NORMS ............................................................ 61 Chapter 4 Biophysical and material conditions ...................................... 62 4.1 Chapter introduction........................................................................... 62 4.2 Resource perspective of the Mekong River ....................................... 62 4.3 Hydropower development on the Mekong River ............................... 64 4.4 The Xayaburi hydropower dam ......................................................... 70 4.5 Potential impact from the Xayaburi hydropower dam ....................... 73 4.5.1 Cambodia ................................................................................... 73 4.5.2 Vietnam ...................................................................................... 75 4.6 Chapter conclusion ............................................................................. 77 Chapter 5 Actors ........................................................................................ 80 5.1 Chapter introduction........................................................................... 80 5.2 Regional actors ................................................................................... 80 5.2.1Mekong River Commission (MRC) .......................................... 80 5.2.2 Donors to the MRC ................................................................... 81 5.2.3 Save the Mekong (STM) Coalition .......................................... 82 5.2.4 Developers of the Xayaburi dam ............................................. 83 5.3 Actors in Cambodia............................................................................ 84 5.3.1 Rivers Coalition in Cambodia (RCC) ..................................... 84 5.3.2 Cambodian government ........................................................... 85 5.3.3 Cambodian National Mekong Committee (CNMC) .............. 87 5.4 Actors in Vietnam .............................................................................. 87 5.4.1 Vietnam Rivers Network (VRN) .............................................. 87 5.4.2 Vietnamese government ............................................................ 89 5.4.3 Mass Organizations ................................................................... 91 5.4.4 Farmers’ Union ......................................................................... 92 5.4.5 VUSTA ....................................................................................... 92 5.4.6 Vietnam National Mekong Committee (VNMC) ................... 92 5.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 93 Chapter 6: Rules and norms ..................................................................... 95 6.1 Chapter introduction........................................................................... 95 6.2 Formal rules at the Mekong regional level ........................................ 95 6.2.1 1995 Mekong Agreement .........................................................