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China is home to half of the world's large dams and adds dozens more each year. The benefits are considerable: dams deliver hydropower, provide reliable irrigation water, protect people and farmland against flooding, and produce hydroelectricity in a nation with a seeimingly insatiable appetite for energy. As hydropower responds to a larger share of energy demand, dams may also help to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, welcome news in a country where air and water pollution have become dire and greenhouse gas emissions are the highest in the world.
Yet the advantages of dams come at a high cost for river ecosystems and for the social and economic well-being of local people, who face displacement and farmland loss. Dams and Development in China examines the array of water-management decisions faced by Chinese leaders and their consequences for local communities. Focusing on the southwestern province of Yunnan – a major hub for hydropower development in China – which encompasses one of the world's most biodiverse temperate ecosystems and one of China's most ethnically and culturally rich regions, Bryan Tilt takes the reader from the halls of decision-making power in Beijing to Yunnan's rural villages. In the process, he examines the contrasting values of government agencies, hydropower corporations, NGOs, and local communities and explores how these values are linked to longstanding cultural norms about what is right, proper, and just. He also considers the various strategies these groups use to influence water-resource policy, including advocacy, petitioning, and public protest. Drawing on a decade of research, he offers his insights on whether the world's most populous nation will adopt greater transparency, increased scientific collaboration, and broader public participation as it continues to grow economically.
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Abbreviations
1. The Moral Economy of Water and Power
2. Crisis and Opportunity: Water Resources and Dams in Contemporary China
3. The Lancang River: Coping with Resettlement and Agricultural Change
4. The Nu River: Anticipating Development and Displacement
5. Experts, Assessments, and Models: The Science of Decision Making
6. People in the Way: Resettlement in Policy and Practice
7. A Broader Confluence: Conservation Initiatives and China’s Global Dam Industry
Conclusion: The Moral Economy Revisited
List of Chinese Terms
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Bryan Tilt is an associate professor of anthropology at Oregon State University. His research focuses on sustainable development, agricultural systems, pollution control, and water resources in China and the United States. He is also the author of The Struggle for Sustainability in Rural China: Environmental Values and Civil Society.
"I have been waiting a long time for a book like this. Tilt presents an even-handed discussion of dam development in China that clearly describes the governance structure and challenges behind how and why the dams are being built at a breakneck pace in China. It is quite refreshing to have someone clearly describe not only the complexity of this decision-making, but also all the various stakeholders involved (or left out) of the process."
– Jennifer Turner, Director China Environment Forum, Woodrow Wilson Center
