GCI Colloquium: Jessica DiCarlo on Land Politics along the Laos-China Corridor

Jessica DiCarlo, PhD Candidate and GCI Research Fellow, presented her research titled “Railroaded: Land Politics Along the Laos-China Corridor” on Monday, December 2nd during the GDP Center’s last GCI Colloquium of Fall 2019.  

DiCarlo shared her case study of the land politics along the Laos-China Corridor. Her research focuses on the social and environmental impacts of land politics along railroad projects in the Northern region of Laos. In this area, DiCarlo analyses governmental policy and procedure, and conducts local interviews, to investigate the connection between power and land in the community. She observes that there are visible negative implications for the environment in terms of air and water pollution as well as for the traditional social structures of the region.