Dams, Displacement, and the Delusion of Development: Cahora Bassa and Its Legacies in Mozambique, 1695–2007 by Allen F. Isaacman and Barbara S. Isaacman (review)

Alan F. Isaacman and Barbara S. Isaacman discovered the environment’s centrality to Mozambican peasant life in their study of the Cahora Bassa dam. Their intended alternative history to that of the official development narrative supports three major arguments: (1) Since construction began, Cahora Bassa has caused ecological, economic, and social trauma for Zambezi Valley residents that none of the development narratives recount; (2) extreme and continual violence was, and is, a critical feature of state efforts to dam the Zambezi in Mozambique; and (3) colonialism persists even in the era of independence. The authors’ historical and environmental framework constructed from archival materials and technical reports was both challenged and supplemented by interview information.

Recognizing the importance of the environment and ecological function is a step toward broader historical perspectives. The authors’ efforts, however, were hindered by failure to employ methodologies and concepts from other disciplines. Social-science literature about sampling, interview techniques, and the interpretation of responses would have given the researchers more confidence in their oral sources. Anthropology would have shown them the validity of differing perceptions and established the identification of benefit and liability as culturally constructed values. Work in ecology and agricultural science could have helped the researchers to understand the difference between variability as a normal condition and random and unpredictable change resulting from human interventions in landscapes. The authors’ ethnocentrism is revealed by their labeling of respondents’ positive recollections of their former environment as “romantic” or “nostalgic.” The absence of full quotations results in the unheard peasant voices being filtered through the authors’ biases and perceptions.

Social-science methodologies also could have addressed inherent power relations in the interview process, recognizing interviewees’ justifiable fears about revealing certain types of information. Anthropological literature stresses the importance of establishing rapport with informants to identify what might be controversial, allowing delicate topics to be addressed indirectly. Social-science conventions require a full description of the interviewees as well as the context and process of the interview.

The sophistication, diversity, and scientific validity of local environmental knowledge have been discussed in development studies and agricultural development writing since the 1970s. Familiarity with this area of research would prepare historians to expect—and actively seek—the creative perceptions and solutions of other cultures, and to learn new ways of understanding local environments, ecological dynamics, and cultures. Most surprisingly, the authors of this book did not refer to the growing historiographies associated with oral and environmental history, which often require the collection and historical framing of local environmental knowledge. Nor did they state whether they taped or transcribed the interviews, took notes during the interviews, or wrote them from memory later, or whether they followed the convention of leaving copies of the original interview materials in a local research institution for use by others as a contribution to national development.

Despite its lack of an interdisciplinary approach to data collection and analysis, this book belongs in general libraries and on the reading list of those concerned with African history, natural-resource management, renewable energy, and energy security.