Pursuing environmental and social justice: social capital with wetland users in Thailand

Pornsiri Cheevapattananuwong; Athena Lathouras; Claudia Baldwin; Nirundorn  Khamnua

doi:10.1080/13549839.2026.2625726

Back

Pursuing environmental and social justice: social capital with wetland users in Thailand

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Pursuing environmental and social justice: social capital with wetland users in Thailand

Pornsiri Cheevapattananuwong, Athena Lathouras, Claudia Baldwin and Nirundorn Khamnua

Local Environment, Vol.Advanced access

19-Feb-2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2026.2625726

Files and links (1)

pdf

Pursuing environmental and social justice social capital with wetland users in Thailand1.50 MBDownload View

Published Version (Advanced Access) Open Access CC BY V4.0

Abstract

dam impacts

river rehabilitation

social justice

Southeast Asia food security

Threats to wetlands affect food security and livelihoods and are especially important for low-income rural communities in developing countries which may have few alternative sources of food and employment. This research examined the roles of social capital when working for justice for wetland users affected by Rasi-Salai Dam in northeastern Thailand. Qualitative data derived from semi-structured interviews, observation, and focus groups identified that bonding, bridging and linking social capital contributed to achieving greater justice for a community impacted by dam development. Drawing on a unique conceptual framework integrating food security and wetlands, social capital theory and a social justice framework (SJF), the article expands on social capital theory by analysing its effectiveness for procedural, distributive and interactive justice. Insights and lessons learned are instructive about how social capital can influence policy change for others facing similar dilemmas.

Details

Title: Pursuing environmental and social justice: social capital with wetland users in Thailand
Authors: Pornsiri Cheevapattananuwong - Mahasarakham University
Athena Lathouras - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Claudia Baldwin (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Law and Society
Nirundorn Khamnua - Mahasarakham University
Publication details: Local Environment, Vol.Advanced access
Publisher: Routledge
DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2026.2625726
ISSN: 1469-6711
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Grant note: This work was supported by The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mahasarakham University, Thailand.
Organisation Unit: School of Law and Society
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991208981302621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration; International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Environmental Studies; Geography; Green & Sustainable Science & Technology; Regional & Urban Planning; Urban Studies