Sediment transport and the implications for Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty
Topics: Political Geography
, Environment
, Asia
Keywords: territory, sediment, geopolitics, Mekong
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 22
Authors:
Kate Bien, Texas Christian University
Ashley Coles, Texas Christian University
Katherine G. Sammler, University of Oldenburg
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Abstract
The concept of territorial sovereignty is fundamental to the modern state system, whether applied to land areas or Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). However, there is a conceptual misalignment when attempting to fix political boundaries along dynamic, water-based territorial boundaries, particularly in coastal areas threatened by sea-level rise (Sammler, 2019). Building on the work of Stuart Elden (2010), this paper examines the concept of territory in three dimensions, including the implications of attaching the relatively static political concept to a dynamic physical system in the Mekong River Basin. Multiple processes are converging to cause substantial losses to Vietnam’s land area, including sand mining and the construction of dams that trap sediment and flood vital farm and forest land. The loss of land has implications for the function of human and environmental systems. These processes represent threats to territorial sovereignty arising from external sources, such as illegal sand mining and construction of dams in upstream riparian countries, and the internal exercise of territorial sovereignty itself, such as the construction of dams on Mekong tributaries within Vietnam. The paper will examine the political and economic dimensions of water and sediment flows within and across territorial boundaries along with their impacts on riparian ecosystems, communities, and countries.
Elden, S. (2010). Land, terrain, territory. Progress in Human Geography, 34(6), 799-817. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132510362603
Sammler, Katherine G. (2019). The rising politics of sea level: demarcating territory in a vertically relative world. Territory, Politics, Governance, 8(4): 1-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21622671.2019.1632219
Sediment transport and the implications for Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty
Category
Virtual Paper Abstract
Description
This abstract is part of a session. Click here to view the session.
| Slides
