Capturing the rains: Comparing Chinese and World Bank hydropower projects in Cameroon and pathways for South-South and North South technology transfer

Chen, Yunnan; Landry, David

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.11.051

Cited by 33 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However, existing research indicates that EXIM bank differs from its Western counterparts in the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of contractor compliance to guidelines. Research at multiple sites consistently shows that the Chinese state policy of non-intervention in partner country politics results in EXIM deferring to the host country's laws and practices for labour relations, environmental protections, and social impacts such as land compensation and disruptions of community livelihoods (Chen & Landry 2018; Yankson et al . 2018; Che 2021).…”

Section: China Africa and The Politics Of Hydropowermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the builder side, many Chinese firms also view social, environmental, and community responsibility standards as largely beyond their purview and the duty of the client government (Urban et al . 2015; Freeman 2017; Jensen-Cormier 2019; Chen & Landry 2018; Che 2021). This is especially true for firms focused only on dam construction and not design or operation; what are referred to as Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contracts 2 .…”

Section: China Africa and The Politics Of Hydropowermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tensions in Sino-African labour relations: the view from the Karuma hydroelectric dam in Uganda

Wyrod,

Chang

2023

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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Over the last decade China has become a dominant player in Africa's rapidly growing hydropower sector. These mega projects typically employ thousands of Africans yet research on labour relations at these sites remains extremely limited. This article provides a rare systematic analysis of workers’ experiences on a Chinese-financed-and-constructed hydroelectric dam in Africa. We find that chronic verbal abuse of African workers by Chinese managers is a defining feature of labour relations at this project in Uganda. This abuse has tainted many workers’ attitudes towards the Chinese contractor Sinohydro, the Chinese government, and to a lesser extent Chinese people themselves. Workers also perceive Ugandan organisations and the Ugandan government as complicit in these poor labour relations. These findings underscore the limits of accountability to labour standards by Chinese firms operating in Africa, especially in contexts where host organisations and governments fail to advocate aggressively for the rights of African workers.

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Section: China Africa and The Politics Of Hydropowermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: China Africa and The Politics Of Hydropowermentioning

confidence: 99%

Tensions in Sino-African labour relations: the view from the Karuma hydroelectric dam in Uganda

Wyrod,

Chang

2023

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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“…In the 20th century a significant focus of the literature was on the policies and protests around the World Bank with regard to its impact assessment, mitigation and project approval protocols (Hildyard & Willks, 1994;Goldman, 2005), culminating in the publication of the World Commission on Dams report in 2000. Such interests in the role of international financiers in dam building processes have continued into the 21st century, albeit with a focus primarily on China (Bosshard, 2009;McDonald et al, 2009;Tilt, 2015;Chen & Landry, 2018;. These form part of wider debates on the politics of China's foreign relations and engagement in development projects, given its past unconditional acceptance of national construction quality and socio-environmental standards.…”

Section: International Dimensions Of the Political Economy Of Damsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Theorising the Political Economy of Dams: Towards a Research Agenda

Lavers

Dye

2019

SSRN Journal

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The politics of dams has been analysed from a range of disciplinary perspectivesincluding comparative politics, international relations, political economy and political ecologyand at varying levelsinternational, national and local. This paper provides a critical review of this literature, highlighting key research themes and gaps in current analysis as a means of developing a broad framework and research agenda for the FutureDAMS project. This framework emphasises the importance of integrating material and ideational drivers of dams across multiple levels of analysis. Much valuable work has been done on the international politics of dams and the micro-politics of displacement and resistance to dam construction. However, a comparatively neglected area of studyparticularly where the recent dam boom in developing countries is concernedis to link these transnational and micro-political processes to national-level decision making. To this end, the paper proposes a central concern with such national-level processes, including process tracing decision making, the distributional politics of energy, the development of bureaucratic and technical capacity to carry out dam projects and the companies contracted to build, assess and design dams.

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“…However, this article's demonstration of influential reformist mitigation policies also suggests that change has happened. Here, echoing Chen and Landry (2018), the World Bank pushed adoption of reformist policies concerning impact assessment, mitigation and compensation and, equally importantly, acted to enforce them. Such evidence contrasts with Goldman (2005) whose unsympathetic account simply paints the Bank as rendering the environment an exploitable natural resource and its attempts at participation, a farce.…”

Section: Conclusion: Reformed Technician's Realm?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuity or Change in the Infrastructure Turn? Reform of the Technicians’ Realm in a World Bank Dam

Dye

2019

Eur J Dev Res

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Development in Africa is undergoing an infrastructure turn, no more so than in resurgent dam building. But how are new projects planned and constructed? Are we seeing repetition of much maligned practices that underestimated economic, environmental and social costs, or have past critiques changed infrastructure building in the 21 st century? Using the concept of the technician's realm that describes short-sighted and expert-centric 20 th century practices of dam building, this article analyses the incorporation of reformist ideas about knowledge production, mitigation and compensation. It uses a detailed case study of the Rusumo Dam, and examines the decision-making processes of the World Bank and a new dam-building organisation, Nelsap.Significantly, this case involved a marked design revision to reduce impact, but also top-down and depoliticising impact assessment and policymaking. It therefore demonstrates nuanced change in the infrastructure turn, the incorporation of reform and continued relevance of past critiques.

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Capturing the rains: Comparing Chinese and World Bank hydropower projects in Cameroon and pathways for South-South and North South technology transfer

Cited by 33 publications

References 15 publications

Tensions in Sino-African labour relations: the view from the Karuma hydroelectric dam in Uganda

Tensions in Sino-African labour relations: the view from the Karuma hydroelectric dam in Uganda

Theorising the Political Economy of Dams: Towards a Research Agenda

Continuity or Change in the Infrastructure Turn? Reform of the Technicians’ Realm in a World Bank Dam

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