Contextualizing the SDGs in the Anthropocene: Case Study of Mekong Women’s Adaptation to Hydropower Dams in Northern Thailand

Large dams are among the most massive infrastructures built in the Mekong River and provide water-energy generators in the Lower Mekong Basin (LMB). Nevertheless, the Mekong River’s current transformation using electricity utilizing hydropower technology has damaged the local ecosystem in the LMB with social and environmental effects. Drawing upon feminist posthumanism, this study argues that the ongoing hydropower dam constructions in the LMB reflect uneven development and exclusion for women and the more-than-human nature of Mekong biodiversity. With a case study of Mekong women’s adaptation to regional development projects, this study aims to contextualize SDGs in the global crisis of the Anthropocene through the lens of the local milieu. The qualitative research was grounded in the Chiang Khong district in the northernmost part of Thailand in Chiang Rai province due to its proximity to the Xayaburi Dam and the center of women collecting Kai along the mainstream Mekong. The findings show that the energy development in the Mekong River has destroyed ecological functions and constricted women’s and more-than-human natures’ survival. The construction of dams across the Mekong River Basin catalyzes environmental transformation and livelihood disruptions. Moreover, the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem integrity will undermine efforts to assess SDG targets in Thailand, making it even more difficult to report progress, especially on well-being and biodiversity. This study foregrounds multispecies justice as a strategy to rethink SDGs in the reality of waterscape degradation in the Anthropocene by focusing on revitalizing the well-being of all beings in the Mekong River, achieving the promise of leaving no one behind.