National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh
Over the last two decades in Bangladesh, a well-organised resistance to coal mining in the north-west, and to onshore and offshore gas exploration, has been animated by concerns over dispossession of land, and plans to export much of the coal and gas to be extracted in the name of financial viabilit...
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Institut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/5309 |
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| author | Paul Robert Gilbert |
| author_facet | Paul Robert Gilbert |
| author_sort | Paul Robert Gilbert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Over the last two decades in Bangladesh, a well-organised resistance to coal mining in the north-west, and to onshore and offshore gas exploration, has been animated by concerns over dispossession of land, and plans to export much of the coal and gas to be extracted in the name of financial viability. As such, these movements might be read as resistance to ‘extractivism’ in a ‘literal sense’. In scholarship on resistance to resource extraction in Bangladesh, significant attention has been given to the tensions that appear to arise between ‘resource nationalist’ opposition to foreign-owned or export-oriented extractive operations, and (some) supposed resource nationalists’ accommodation of fossil fuel extraction in the name of energy sovereignty and development. In this chapter, I argue that this apparent tension in understanding resistance to extractivism dissolves when the New International Economic Order (NIEO)―which centred on attempts to assert permanent sovereignty over natural resources and empower postcolonial states to negotiate with extractive corporations―is foregrounded. In Bangladesh, sovereignty over natural resources and the primacy of domestic courts in disputes over resource extraction are frequently enacted, much to the displeasure of international extractive industry corporations. Focusing on attempts to enact the spirit of the NIEO by Bangladeshi courts, and arbitrators locking horns with extractive industry corporations, I suggest that ‘resource nationalist’ mobilisation against unjust forms of resource extraction can at times be understood as resistance to the international legal architecture that frames extractive corporations’ relationships with postcolonial states, rather than to extractivism in the ‘literal sense’. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bee149fdf0224f3286bfe829919f3cef |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1663-9375 1663-9391 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Institut de Hautes Études Internationales et du Développement |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement |
| spelling | doaj-art-bee149fdf0224f3286bfe829919f3cef2025-08-20T02:20:10ZengInstitut de Hautes Études Internationales et du DéveloppementRevue Internationale de Politique de Développement1663-93751663-93912023-06-011610.4000/poldev.5309National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in BangladeshPaul Robert GilbertOver the last two decades in Bangladesh, a well-organised resistance to coal mining in the north-west, and to onshore and offshore gas exploration, has been animated by concerns over dispossession of land, and plans to export much of the coal and gas to be extracted in the name of financial viability. As such, these movements might be read as resistance to ‘extractivism’ in a ‘literal sense’. In scholarship on resistance to resource extraction in Bangladesh, significant attention has been given to the tensions that appear to arise between ‘resource nationalist’ opposition to foreign-owned or export-oriented extractive operations, and (some) supposed resource nationalists’ accommodation of fossil fuel extraction in the name of energy sovereignty and development. In this chapter, I argue that this apparent tension in understanding resistance to extractivism dissolves when the New International Economic Order (NIEO)―which centred on attempts to assert permanent sovereignty over natural resources and empower postcolonial states to negotiate with extractive corporations―is foregrounded. In Bangladesh, sovereignty over natural resources and the primacy of domestic courts in disputes over resource extraction are frequently enacted, much to the displeasure of international extractive industry corporations. Focusing on attempts to enact the spirit of the NIEO by Bangladeshi courts, and arbitrators locking horns with extractive industry corporations, I suggest that ‘resource nationalist’ mobilisation against unjust forms of resource extraction can at times be understood as resistance to the international legal architecture that frames extractive corporations’ relationships with postcolonial states, rather than to extractivism in the ‘literal sense’.https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/5309neo-colonialnatural gascompensationdispossession of landresistanceresource nationalism |
| spellingShingle | Paul Robert Gilbert National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement neo-colonial natural gas compensation dispossession of land resistance resource nationalism |
| title | National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh |
| title_full | National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr | National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed | National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh |
| title_short | National Resources, Resistance, and the Afterlives of the New International Economic Order in Bangladesh |
| title_sort | national resources resistance and the afterlives of the new international economic order in bangladesh |
| topic | neo-colonial natural gas compensation dispossession of land resistance resource nationalism |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/poldev/5309 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulrobertgilbert nationalresourcesresistanceandtheafterlivesofthenewinternationaleconomicorderinbangladesh |