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This book highlights the first comparative long-term analysis of the negative impacts of large dams on riverine communities and on free-flowing rivers in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Following the Foreword by Professor Asit K. Biswas, the first section covers the 1956-1973 period, when the author believed that large dams provided an exceptional opportunity for integrated river basin development. In turn, the second section (1976-1997) reflects the author's increasing concerns about the magnitude of the socio-economic and environmental costs of large dams, while the third (1998-2018) discusses why large dams are in fact not cost-effective in the long term.
List of contents
Introduction of the Book.- 1956-1973: I Believe Large Dams Provide An Exceptional Opportunity For Integrated River Basin Development.- 1976-1995: The International Research Activities of the Institute for Development Anthropology and Increasing Concerns About The Environmental and Socio-Economic Costs of Large Dams for Free Flowing Rivers and River Basin Communities.- My Increasing Disillusionment with The Planning, Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Large Dams Especially as Illustrated by The World Bank-The Largest and Most Influential Financier of Large Dams.- Postscript In Search of a Career and Myself.
About the author
Prof. Thayer Scudder is an Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the California Institute of Technology, USA. He is a leading World authority on dams and is the former Commissioner of the World Commission on Dams. His research interests are in the area of socioeconomic impacts of large dams, regional development, and community-based natural resource management.
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Summary
This book highlights the first comparative long-term analysis of the negative impacts of large dams on riverine communities and on free-flowing rivers in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Following the Foreword by Professor Asit K. Biswas, the first section covers the 1956–1973 period, when the author believed that large dams provided an exceptional opportunity for integrated river basin development. In turn, the second section (1976–1997) reflects the author’s increasing concerns about the magnitude of the socio-economic and environmental costs of large dams, while the third (1998–2018) discusses why large dams are in fact not cost-effective in the long term.
Additional text
“I enjoyed reading this book. It is well-written and intellectually stimulating. As an emerging scholar in large dams, I found this book very useful, particularly as it engages in a timeline of 60 years. It promises to be a good guide to my own planned long-term studies of large dams in Southern Africa.” (Joshua Matanzima, Water International, August 24, 2020)
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"I enjoyed reading this book. It is well-written and intellectually stimulating. As an emerging scholar in large dams, I found this book very useful, particularly as it engages in a timeline of 60 years. It promises to be a good guide to my own planned long-term studies of large dams in Southern Africa." (Joshua Matanzima, Water International, August 24, 2020)
