Flooded: Development, democracy, and Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam (Review)

Abstract

Stakeholders and rights-holders around the world are increasingly calling on the private sector and governments to ensure that development projects respond to and respect their needs, while advancing multiple goals of job creation, rural development, conservation, and more. Yet how projects meet diverse needs and goals is underexamined, in particular as private companies’ and governments’ needs and goals do not necessarily align with those of the people who will be affected by them. Additionally, the stakes may be particularly high in a world affected by climate change, where “green energy” projects promise to advance global decarbonization goals, potentially at the expense of local communities and environments. In a democracy, how do “green energy” development projects (mis)align with the interests of multiple and diverse stakeholders, and what are the outcomes of those (mis)alignments?

Citation

Redmore, Lauren. 2024. Flooded: Development, democracy, and Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam (Review). Contemporary Sociology. 53(4): 354-355.