Asymmetrical Affect

Comforts’ ( Sabay ) of a Chinese Hydropower Project in Northern Laos

Datos Bibliográficos

ID5956032
AutoresFloramante S J Ponce (0000-0003-1832-7207, Université Libre de Bruxelles, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Volumen27
Número1
Páginas1-23
Fecha de publicación2025-11-12
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCanberra Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0314-9099 • E-ISSN: 1740-9314
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14442213.2025.2560924
OpenAlexW7105594481
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas31

This article introduces the concept of asymmetrical affect to examine how the resettled from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds have been conditioned by and reacted to the affections of relocation under a Chinese hydropower project in northern Laos. Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork and household interviews, I scrutinise how the relocation, along with its concomitant development and unexpected consequences, has provided ‘comfort’ (sabay) or caused ‘impoverishment’ (thouk) to the ‘bodies’ (gay) and ‘hearts’ (chai) of the resettled. The local elite capitalised on new infrastructure to improve their livelihoods and social standing, whereas the rural poor with labour power suffered from economic dispossession, community/family dislocation, and emotional distress. All rural destitute villagers experienced a ‘poetic infrastructural disconnect’; some faced ethnic discrimination and unfair allegations. I argue that the intersection of new material conditions and unequal social positions informs post-relocation ‘sabay’, thus challenging large-scale development’s narratives of uniform progress.

China · Hydropower · Sustainability · Work (physics · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Water Governance and Infrastructure