Dams, Displacement and Development
Perspectives from Río Negro, Guatemala
Authors: Einbinder, Nathan
Free Preview- Provides a unique, in-depth look at the effects of mega-development projects in the developing world
- Includes open-ended interviews with members of the Guatemalan community in Río Negro who were displaced by the construction of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam
- Presents academic content in an accessible style
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- About this book
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Using the case of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam in Guatemala, constructed between 1978 and 1983, this book examines the effects of displacement on the former residents of Río Negro, a community forcibly evicted and nearly eliminated by the military and paramilitary. Using open-ended interview discussions and testimonies, it focuses on this specific incident of displacement and violence and discusses the outcomes 30 years later. Guatemala’s history is plagued by development projects that resulted in displacement, violence, and increased marginalization of its indigenous and non-indigenous populations. In order to make way for development initiatives such as the production of bananas, African palm, coffee and sugar cane; the extraction of metals such as gold and nickel; or, in this specific case, the construction of a hydroelectric dam, the land-based, predominately Maya campesinos have been systematically uprooted from the lands of their birth and launched into uncertainty.
The research findings presented, based on fieldwork conducted from January to April 2009, suggest that the majority of survivors from the massacres that took place are still adversely affected by the destruction of their families and livelihoods. While the circumstances pertaining to this event are unique, similar struggles over land and human rights continue into the present — and if policies remain unchanged, in both international development agencies as well as the Guatemalan government, clashes of this nature only increase in time.
- Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 1-9
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Research Design
Pages 11-18
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Development: A Critical Backgrounder
Pages 19-27
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Guatemalan Historical Context
Pages 29-39
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Río Negro and the Chixoy Dam
Pages 41-50
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
- Download Preface 1 PDF (59.9 KB)
- Download Sample pages 2 PDF (105.5 KB)
- Download Table of contents PDF (39.4 KB)
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Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Dams, Displacement and Development
- Book Subtitle
- Perspectives from Río Negro, Guatemala
- Authors
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- Nathan Einbinder
- Series Title
- SpringerBriefs in Latin American Studies
- Copyright
- 2017
- Publisher
- Springer International Publishing
- Copyright Holder
- The Author(s)
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-319-51511-3
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-319-51511-3
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-319-51510-6
- Series ISSN
- 2366-763X
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- XVII, 94
- Number of Illustrations
- 7 illustrations in colour
- Topics
