In this Book
- Dead in the Water: Global Lessons from the World Bank's Model Hydropower Project in Laos
- Book
- 2018
- Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
- Series: New Perspectives in Se Asian Studies
summary
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.
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.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Foreword: Dams and Dreams in Laos PDR
- pp. xi-xiv
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xxiii-xxiv
- Abbreviations
- pp. xv-xvi
- Part One: The World Bank Promotes a New Model of Hydropower
- Part Two: Social and Environmental Context and Outcomes
- Part Three: Nam Theun 2's Wider Legacy
- Conclusion: Transforming Loss
- pp. 293-306
- Afterword: Bookending Nam Theun 2
- pp. 307-312
- Bibliography
- pp. 313-330
- Contributors
- pp. 331-334
Additional Information
ISBN
9780299317935
Related ISBN(s)
9780299317904, 9780299317942
MARC Record
OCLC
1040031855
Pages
380
Launched on MUSE
2018-06-18
Language
English
Open Access
No