This paper looks at how local livelihoods and to a certain extent their transitions are embedded in, and in thrall to, power relations at higher levels. Placing the (re)shaping of livelihood pathways within the context of top-down hydropower planning, it shows how the latter predetermines farm households’ current farming strategies and future livelihood pathways. Taking two villages along the Mekong River, both of which are to be impacted by the planned Pak Beng hydropower dam in Pak Beng district, Oudomxay province, the paper illustrates how the pathways that rural livelihoods are taking in northern Laos are being shaped by decisions and processes embedded in national and regional exigencies. We argue that top-down approaches in hydropower planning, as manifested in the current institutional vacuum to formally deal with resettlement and compensation issues at the village level result in village authorities’ and potentially affected villagers’ inability to strategically convey and negotiate their views and concerns. Moreover, we reveal how it is the specter of change which drives livelihood adaptation, not change itself, thus illustrating how the defined compensation rules and procedures (re)shape farm households’ farming strategies and future livelihood pathways even prior to the construction of the hydropower dam.

本文着眼于地方生计及其在某种程度上的过渡如何嵌入并阻碍高层权力关系。在自上而下的水电规划的背景下，将（重新）塑造民生途径放在一旁，它显示了后者是如何预先确定农户当前的农业策略和未来的生计途径的。以湄公河沿岸的两个村庄为例，该两个村庄都将受到乌多姆塞省北蓬县规划中的北蓬水电站大坝的影响，该论文说明了老挝北部农村生计所采取的途径是如何受到决策和影响的。嵌入国家和地区紧急情况的流程。我们认为水电规划中的自上而下的方法 当前在村级一级正式处理安置和补偿问题的机构真空中所表现出的后果是，村级主管部门并可能影响到村民无法从战略上传达和协​​商他们的观点和关切。此外，我们揭示了它是推动生计适应的变化的幽灵本身并不会改变，因此说明了既定的补偿规则和程序如何（甚至）在水电大坝建设之前就重新塑造了农户的耕作策略和未来的生计途径。