The long shadow of the developmental state: energy infrastructure and environmental sustainability in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Energy infrastructure is a major factor in Southeast Asia’s current drive for enhanced connectivity. By focusing on the construction of hydropower dams and coal-fired power plants, this article examines the environmental sustainability of energy projects in the region. Based on an analytical framework informed by historical institutionalism and practice theory, I argue that the implementation of large-scale energy infrastructure projects by investors from China, Japan, South Korea and, to a lesser extent, Thailand and Malaysia is driven by path dependencies and the developmental practices these countries established as developmental states at the time of their own economic takeoff. These legacies explain why ongoing energy projects in the region suffer from a severe lack of environmental sustainability.