Dams, Displacement and the Delusion of Development: Cahora Bassa and Its Legacies in Mozambique, 1965 - 2007 (New African Histories) by Allen F. Isaacman

by Allen F. Isaacman

Cahora Bassa Dam on the Zambezi River, built in the early 1970s during the final years of Portuguese rule, was the last major infrastructure project constructed in Africa during the turbulent era of decolonization. Engineers and hydrologists praised the dam for its technical complexity and the skills required to construct what was then the world’s fifth-largest mega-dam. Portuguese colonial officials cited benefits they expected from the dam—from expansion of irrigated farming and European settlement, to improved transportation throughout the Zambezi River Valley, to reduced flooding in this area of unpredictable rainfall. “The project, however, actually resulted in cascading layers of human displacement, violence, and environmental destruction. Its electricity benefited few Mozambicans, even after the former guerrillas of FRELIMO (Frente de Libertação de Moçambique) came to power; instead, it fed industrialization in apartheid South Africa.” (Richard Roberts)This in-depth study of the region examines the dominant developmentalist narrative that has surrounded the dam, chronicles the continual violence that has accompanied its existence, and gives voice to previously unheard narratives of forced labor, displacement, and historical and contemporary life in the dam’s shadow.

Genres: Nonfiction

Paperback

First published April 10, 2013

About the author

Allen Isaacman is the Regents Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. He is the founder of the African History program at the University and the co-founder of the MacArthur Interdisciplinary Program on Global Change, Sustainability and Justice.

Reviews

[Kavya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book romanticizes the pre-1900s Zambezi valley but also acknowledges the role of oral history and memories' tendency to romanticize the past and downplay tensions. Even the present tensions are downplayed, such as the trouble with cramped living spaces and adultery. The Chapters on labor focus solely on the male perspective. Sheds light on the social tensions around sexuality and race, but then the perennial question is: how much is this a colonial problem? The lack of women's voices is perhaps not shocking but still should be critiqued. Given that the Portuguese are often considered the losers of European colonizers post-1750, why should this case be useful for studying colonial governments' institution of high modernism? Same goes for the labor exploitation of black people. Perhaps the larger takeaway, as pointed out by an African American student in class, is that black people are still treated like trash by white people in the 1970s. If sovereignty could not be achieved by the people of the Zambezi valley, black people are indeed vulnerable (yet how do we avoid the tendency of ahistoricity?). How does Frelimo contribute to labor exploitation and inequalities?

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Isaacmans tell a compelling story of tragedy. I do wish for some positive counter history: might a dam have been built that considered the people and environment of Mozambique and provided power while not devastating life along the Zambezi? But that question was not one they entertained, and the issues that they addressed, they address in a gripping style.

[Nash Tysmans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borrowed this from my professor to us for a paper. Enjoyed getting an overview of the Cahora Bassa Dam project along the Zambezi River. I was writing about the Chico River Dam project in the Philippines and so this really resonated with me.

The book is comprehensive. Allen and Barbara Isaacman reveal knowledge from what I could only guess to be years of intensive fieldwork in the area. I appreciate the ethnographic look at dam development during decolonization and i share their view that this mega-dam project mostly caters to resources being sold outside of Mozambique with little to no impact on its own people. Therefore, decolonizing development remains a huge challenge.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about the history of dams and "development" in Mozambique in the colonial and post-colonial eras. The book includes firsthand narratives of those most affected by the dam projects, including those were displaced to other areas.