The Cost of a Third-World Dam: Women's Experiences in a Changing African Landscape

In the United States, the passionate debate about the price we’ve paid for large domestic hydropower projects includes discussion about the possible deconstruction of certain dams. But the construction of large dams in other parts of the world —particularly in less developed countries —has never waned, and in fact, has increased despite wellknown and documented social and environmental impacts. While India and China have two of the most famous projects, the southern African countries of Lesotho and South Africa share a multidam development project that dramatically alters the rural landscape of mountainous Lesotho. Local communities impacted by the series of dams face resettlement, loss of agricultural and pastoral lands, loss of means of production, increased risk of impoverishment, and changes in access to natural resources such as wild vegetables, herbs, and medicines. These communities are also some of the poorest in the country, and, ironically, they absorb much of the indirect costs of the mega dams built in their communities. Women, in particular, bear the multidimensional costs of a changed landscape and struggle to adapt, resist, and thrive while creatively negotiating these powerful and intimate changes in their lives. Through images and discussion, we’ll explore these questions of development and social justice through the experiences of women in Lesotho.

Presenter Profile: Yvonne Braun, Assistant Professor, Sociology

Yvonne Braun is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oregon and is enjoying her third year in Eugene. Yvonne grew up on Long Island, New York, where her emerging environmental consciousness developed in the shadow of a neighboring dump-cum-incineration site. In college in upstate New York, Yvonne solidified her environmental and social justice activism in challenging proposals to dispose of hazardous waste in depleted salt mines under the campus and town. Yvonne’s current research examines the social and environmental impacts of a multidam development project in Lesotho, southern Africa, where she conducted surveys and interviews with people impacted by the project.