Large Dams in Asia: Contested Environments Between Technological Hydroscapes and Social Resistance

Abstract

Based on the underlying paradigms of modernisation and the concrete idea of implementation of large infrastructure projects, the quest for national development and improvement of local livelihoods has generated a strong boost for the demand of large dams in the Global South, especially in Asia. The belief in the panacea that gargantuan hydro-projects offer for the betterment of nations and peoples has run roughshod over other environmental and social concerns. Whereas these large-scale transformations of fluvial environments into technological hydroscapes serve to provide hydropower, flood control, and water supply for irrigation and industrial and urban uses, their massive adverse effects have evoked controversies of developmental and environmental impacts.