The Social Barrier of Strategic Coupling: A Case Study of the Letpadaung Copper Mine in Myanmar

Qidi Ji, Weidong Liu, Tao Song and Boyang Gao
Additional contact information
Qidi Ji: Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modelling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Weidong Liu: Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modelling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Tao Song: Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modelling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Boyang Gao: School of Management Science and Engineering, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: Civil society is not as impotent as argued by many scholars in facing the pervasive force of economic globalization, and instead can play an important role in the strategic coupling of multinationals with localities. This study attempts to deepen existing research on the strategic coupling of mining production networks by emphasizing the role of social actors at different scales in the coupling process. It uses the qualitative survey method to provide analytical insights into the case of the Letpadaung Copper Mine in Myanmar, which is an investment of the Chinese company Wanbao Mining. Social actors represented by local communities and NGOs may have different interests from mining firms on issues such as land use, rural livelihoods, and environmental impacts, which constitute a sort of social barrier to strategic coupling. Wanbao Mining has taken steps to balance the intentions of multiple actors at different scales through bargaining, ultimately achieving an inclusive coupling that is a win-win for all parties. The concept of social barriers incorporates land-use issues into the strategic coupling research, contributing to the study of socio-economic and political issues of land in the context of globalization.

Keywords: strategic coupling; civil society; land conflicts; rural livelihoods; bargaining; mining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/885/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/11/6/885/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:6:p:885-:d:836065

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().