Dead in the Water: Global Lessons from the World Bank's Model Hydropower Project in Laos (New Perspectives in Southeast Asian Studies)

ISBN 10: 0299317943 / ISBN 13: 9780299317942

Published by University of Wisconsin Press, 2019

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Synopsis:

For decades, large dam projects have been undertaken by both nations and international agencies with the aim of doing good: preventing floods, bringing electricity to rural populations, producing revenues for poor countries, and more. But time after time, the social, economic, and environmental costs have outweighed the benefits of the dams, sometimes to a disastrous degree. In this volume, a diverse group of experts―involved for years with the Nam Theun 2 dam in Laos―issue an urgent call for critical reassessment of the approach to, and rationale for, these kinds of large infrastructure projects in developing countries.

In the 2000s, as the World Bank was reeling from revelations of past hydropower failures, it nonetheless promoted the enormous Nam Theun 2 project. NT2, the Bank believed, offered a new, wiser model of dam development that would alleviate poverty, protect the environment, engage locally affected people in a transparent fashion, and stimulate political transformation. This was a tall order. For the first time, this book shows in detail why, despite assertions of success from the World Bank and other agencies involved in the project, the dam's true story has been one of substantial loss for affected villagers and the regional environment. Nam Theun 2 is an important case study that illustrates much broader problems of global development policy.

About the Author: Bruce Shoemaker is an independent consultant on development and natural resources who has conducted extensive research on the impacts of the Nam Theun 2 dam. His books include The People and Their River: River-based Livelihoods in the Xe Bang Fai Basin in Laos.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Dead in the Water: Global Lessons from the ...
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Publication Date: 2019
Binding: paperback
Condition: Very Good