Associate Professor Sango Mahanty
Areas of expertise
- Human Geography 1604
- Studies Of Asian Society 169903
- Natural Resource Management 050209
- Environment Policy 160507
Research interests
- Political ecology
- Agrarian change
- Development studies
- Mainland Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia)
Biography
I am a human geographer studying the politics of social and environmental change. My recent ARC Future Fellowship explored these related themes in a region of rapid social and environmental change along the Cambodia-Vietnam border. My current work in this region examines how communities and civil society are responding to dramatic processes of nature-society transformation or “rupture”. I have collaborated with civil society and government in Australia and the Asia-Pacific, and currently lead the Resources, Environment and Development Program at ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy. I also teach postgraduate courses on social impact assessment and pollution/waste.
Career highlights
Director, Environment and Development Program (current); ARC Future Fellow June 2014 - December 2018; Coordinator, Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development (2007-2014); Vice-Chancellor's Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning 2013; College Teaching Innovation Award 2012; Convenor, Deakin University's Bachelor of Park Management and research partnership with Parks Victoria 2001-2003; Analyst at the Center for People and Forests from 2005-2007.
Researcher's projects
Current and past research collaborations include:
1.Rupture: nature-society transformation in mainland Southeast Asia (2018-2021) This research examines how transformative landscape and infrastructure developments in mainland Southeast Asia are catalysing new civil society and state responses. Its findings will inform development planning and more inclusive social and environmental policy. The voices of communities affected by environmental change will be amplified, creating opportunities for dialogue. Ground-breaking insights on state-society dynamics will also enhance Australia’s security and regional leadership role.
2. ARC Future Fellowship (2014-2018) Frontiers of change: resources, access and agency on the Cambodia-Vietnam borderland. This interdisciplinary study examines how local actors negotiate transnational networks and markets on the Cambodia-Vietnam borderland. It will provide critical evidence and theoretical insights on how local environmental, social and political processes intersect wider transitions in this strategically significant region.
3. The Political Ecology of Forest Carbon - mainland Southeast Asia's new commodity frontier? (2012-2015) Supported by an ARC Discovery Grant, this study aims to understand how forest users in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos respond to the complex local, national and regional dimensions of the emerging market for forest carbon.
4. Safeguarding local equity as global values of ecosystem services rise (2010-2012) Supported by a UK National Environmental Research Council Grant, the project aims to develop a framework to examine equity in the context of ecosystem services. It applies this framework in a series of case studies to explore how local-level equity is affected by changes in the global value of ecosystem services. The project involves several institutions and is coordinated by the University of Southampton.
5. Crafting Sustainability: addressing water pollution from Vietnam's craft villages (2009-2012). Supported by an AusAID Australian Development Research Award, the project aims to understand the drivers of pollution from craft villages in the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam.
Current student projects
Primary supervisor:
Ratchada Arpornsilp, Grassroots environmental movements in an authoritarian state: resource conflicts in Thailand’s Special Economic Zones
Hanh Nguyen, Community forestry in Vietnam
Publications
- Milne, S, Mahanty, S, To, X et al 2019, 'Learning from 'actually existing' REDD+: A synthesis of ethnographic findings', Conservation and Society, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 84-95.
- Milne, S & Mahanty, S 2019, 'Value and bureaucratic violence in the green economy', Geoforum, vol. 98, pp. 133-143.
- Mahanty, S 2019, 'Shadow Economies and the State: A Comparison of Cassava and Timber Networks on the Cambodia-Vietnam Frontier', Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 193-215.
- To, X, Mahanty, S & Wells-Dang, A 2019, 'From "land to the tiller" to the "new landlords"? The debate over Vietnam's latest land reforms', Land, vol. 8, no. 120, pp. 1-19.
- Mahanty, S 2019, 'A tale of two networks: Market formation on the Cambodia-Vietnam frontier', Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, pp. 1-16.
- Mahanty, S 2018, 'Contingent Sovereignty: Cross-Border Rentals in the Cambodia-Vietnam Borderland', Annals of the American Association of Geographers, vol. 108, no. 3, pp. 829-844pp.
- Swainson, L & Mahanty, S 2018, 'Green economy meets political economy: Lessons from the Aceh Green initiative, Indonesia', Global Environmental Change: Part A - Human and Policy Dimensions, no. 53, pp. 286-295.
- To, X, Dressler, W & Mahanty, S 2017, 'REDD+ for Red Books? Negotiating rights to land and livelihoods through carbon governance in the Central Highlands of Vietnam', Geoforum, vol. 81, no. online, pp. 163-173pp.
- Dressler, W, Wilson, D, Clendenning, J et al 2017, 'The impact of swidden decline on livelihoods and ecosystem services in Southeast Asia: A review of the evidence from 1990 to 2015', AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 291-310pp.
- Mahanty, S 2017, 'Frontier Livelihoods: Hmong in the Sino-Vietnamese Borderlands', The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 183-185pp.
- Neimark, B, Mahanty, S & Dressler, W 2016, 'Mapping Value in a "Green' Commodity Frontier: Revisiting Commodity Chain Analysis', Development and Change, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 240-265.
- Mahanty, S & Milne, S 2016, 'Anatomy of a boom: Cassava as a "gateway' crop in Cambodia's north eastern borderland', Asia Pacific Viewpoint, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 180-193pp.
- To, X, Mahanty, S & Dressler, W 2016, 'Moral economies and markets: "Insider' cassava trading in Kon Tum, Vietnam', Asia Pacific Viewpoint, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 168-179pp.
- Beckmann, E A & Mahanty, S 2016, 'The evolution and evaluation of an online role play through design-based research', Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 35-47.
- Dressler, W, Wilson, D, Clendenning, J et al 2015, 'Examining how long fallow swidden systems impact upon livelihood and ecosystem services outcomes compared with alternative land-uses in the uplands of Southeast Asia', Journal of Development Effectiveness, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 210-229.
- Milne, S & Mahanty, S, eds, 2015, Conservation and Development in Cambodia: Exploring frontiers of change in nature, state and society, Routledge, London and New York.
- To, X, Mahanty, S & Dressler, W 2015, ''A new landlord' (dia chu moi)? Community, land conflict and State Forest Companies (SFCs) in Vietnam', Forestry Policy and Economics, vol. 58, no. 2014, pp. 21-28.
- Mahanty, S & Dang, T 2015, 'Between "state' and "society': Commune authorities and the environment in Vietnam's craft villages', Asia Pacific Viewpoint, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 267-281.
- Mahanty, S & Milne, S 2015, 'The forest carbon commodity chain in Cambodia's voluntary carbon market', in Milne, Sarah, and Mahanty, Sango (ed.), Conservation and Development in Cambodia: Exploring frontiers of change in nature, state and society, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 177-200.
- Milne, S & Mahanty, S 2015, 'The political ecology of Cambodia's transformation', in Milne, Sarah, and Mahanty, Sango (ed.), Conservation and Development in Cambodia: Exploring frontiers of change in nature, state and society, Routledge, London and New York, pp. 1-27.
- To, X, Mahanty, S & Dressler, W 2014, 'Social Networks of Corruption in the Vietnamese and Lao Cross-Border Timber Trade', Anthropological Forum, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 154-174.
- Dressler, W., Mahanty, S., Clendenning, J. and To, P. 2014. Rearticulating Governance through Carbon in the Lao PDR? Environment and Planning C
- Tacconi, L, Mahanty, S & Suich, H 2013, 'The livelihood impacts of payments for environmental services and implications for REDD+', Society and Natural Resources, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 733-744. doi: 10.1080/08941920.2012.724151
- Dang, T. and Mahanty, S. (with S. Mackay). 2013. "Living with pollution": juggling environmental and social risk in Vietnam's craft villages. Critical Asian Studies. 45 (4): 643-667.
- Mahanty, S & McDermott, C 2013, 'How does 'Free, Prior and Informed Consent' (FPIC) impact social equity? Lessons from mining and forestry and their implications for REDD', Land Use Policy, vol. 35, pp. 406-416.
- Dressler, W., To, P. X. & Mahanty, S. 2013. How Biodiversity Conservation Policy Accelerates Agrarian Differentiation: The Account of an Upland Village in Vietnam, Conservation and Society, 11, 130-143.
- Mahanty, S, Dressler, W, Milne, S, Filer, C, 2013, 'Unravelling property relations around forest carbon', Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 188-205.
- Mahanty, S. & McDermott, C. L. 2013. How does 'Free, Prior and Informed Consent' (FPIC) impact social equity? Lessons from mining and forestry and their implications for REDD+. Land Use Policy, 35, 406-416.
- Mahanty, S., Dressler, W., Milne, S., Filer, C., 2013. Unravelling property relations around forest carbon. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 34, 188-205.
- Tacconi, L., Mahanty, S., Suich, H., 2013. The Livelihood Impacts of Payments for Environmental Services and Implications for REDD+. Society and Natural Resources 26, 733-744.
- Mahanty, S, Tacconi, L & Suich, H 2013, 'Access and benefits in payments for environmental services and implications for REDD+: lessons from seven PES schemes', Land Use Policy, 31, pp. 38-47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.10.009
- McDermott, M., Mahanty, S. and Schreckenberg, K. 2013, 'Examining equity: A multidimensional framework for assessing equity in payments for ecosystem services', Environmental Science and Policy, vol. Available online 2 November 2012.
- Mahanty, S, Milne, S, Dressler, W, Filer, C, 2012. 'The Social Life of Forest Carbon: Property and Politics in the Production of a New Commodity', Human Ecology, vol. 40, 661-664.
- Mahanty, S & Dang, T, 2012. 'Crafting sustainability? The Potential and Limits of Institutional Design in Managing Water Pollution from Vietnam's Craft Villages', Society and Natural Resources, 26, 717-732.
- McDermott, M., Mahanty, S. and Schreckenberg, K. in press, Examining equity: A multidimensional framework for assessing equity in payments for ecosystem services. Environmental Science and Policy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2012.10.006
- To, P, Dressler, W, Mahanty, S et al, 2012. 'The Prospects for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Vietnam: A Look at Three Payment Schemes', Human Ecology, 40, pp. 237-249.
- Strassburg, B.N., Vira, B., Mahanty, S, Mansourian, S, Martin, A et al 2012, 'Social and economic considerations relevant to REDD+', in JA Parrotta, C Wildburger, S Mansourian (ed.), Understanding Relationships between Biodiversity, Carbon, Forests and People: The key to Achieving REDD+ Objectives, International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), Vienna, pp. 83-112.
- Tacconi, L, Mahanty, S & Suich, H, (eds.) 2010, Payments for environmental services, forest conservation and climate change. Livelihoods in the REDD?, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.
- Tacconi, L, Mahanty, S & Suich, H 2010, 'PES schemes impacts on livelihoods and implications for REDD activities', in Luca Tacconi, Sango Mahanty, Helen Suich (eds.), Payments for environmental services, forest conservation and climate change. Livelihoods in the REDD?, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 244-260.
- Mahanty, S, Yasmi, Y, Guernier, J et al 2009, 'Relationships, learning and trust: lessons from the SNV-RECOFTC partnership', Development in Practice, vol. 19, no. 7, pp. 859-872.
- Mahanty, S, Guernier, J & Yasmi, Y 2009, 'A Fair Share? Sharing the benefits and costs of collaborative forest management', International Forestry Review, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 268-280.
- Lee, E & Mahanty, S 2009, Payments for Environmental Services and Poverty Reduction: Risks and Opportunities, RECOFTC.
- Mahanty, S, Stacey, N, Holland, P et al 2007, 'Learning to learn: Designing monitoring plans in the Pacific Islands International Waters Project', Ocean and Coastal Management, vol. 50, pp. 392-410.
- Mahanty, S, Gronow, J, Nurse, M et al 2006, 'Reducing Poverty through Community Based Forest Management in Asia', Journal of Forest and Livelihood, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 78-89.
- Keen, M, Mahanty, S & Sauvage, J 2006, 'Sustainability Assessment and Local Government: Achieving Innovation through Practitioner Networks.', Local Environment, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 201-216.
- Keen, M & Mahanty, S 2006, 'Learning in sustainable natural resource management: Challenges and opportunities in the Pacific', Society and Natural Resources, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 497-513.
- Mahanty, S, Fox, J, Nurse, M, Stephen, P and McClees, L. (Eds), 2006, Hanging in the Balance: Equity in Community-Based Natural Resource Management in Asia, East West Center, Honolulu.
- Keen, M & Mahanty, S 2005, 'Collaborative learning: Bridging scales and interests', in Meg Keen, Valerie A. Brown, Rob Dyball (ed.), Social Learning in Environmental Management: Towards a sustainable future, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London, pp. 104-122.
- Keen, M, Mahanty, S, Sauvage, J et al 2005, 'Engaging Communities of Practice for Sustainability: the case study of Sutherland Council, NSW', International Conference on Engaging Communities, ed. United Nations and Queensland Government, Queensland Government, online, pp. 1-18.
- Mahanty, S 2003, 'Insights from a Cultural Landscape:Lessons from Landscape History for the Management of Rajiv Gandhi (Nagarahole) National Park', Conservation and Society, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 23-47.
- Mahanty, S, 2002, NGOs, Agencies and Donors in Participatory Conservation: Tales from Nagarahole. Economic and Political Weekly, 37 (36): 3757-3765.
- Mahanty, S 2002, 'Conservation and Development Interventions as Networks: The Case of the India Ecodevelopment Project, Karnataka', World Development, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 1369-1386.
