Before the Flood (Paperback)

Paperback. In Before the Flood Jacob Blanc traces the protest movements of rural Brazilians living in the shadow of the Itaipu dam-the largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world. In the 1970s and 1980s, local communities facing displacement took a stand against the military officials overseeing the dam's construction, and in the context of an emerging national fight for democracy, they elevated their struggle for land into a referendum on the dictatorship itself. Unlike the broader campaign against military rule, however, the conflict at Itaipu was premised on issues that long predated the official start of dictatorship: access to land, the defense of rural and indigenous livelihoods, and political rights in the countryside. In their efforts against Itaipu and through conflicts among themselves, title-owning farmers, landless peasants, and the Ava-Guarani Indians articulated a rural-based vision for democracy. Through interviews and archival research-including declassified military documents and the first-ever access to the Itaipu Binational Corporation-Before the Flood challenges the primacy of urban-focused narratives and unearths the rural experiences of dictatorship and democracy in Brazil. Jacob Blanc examines the creation of the Itaipu Dam--the largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world--on the Brazil-Paraguay border during the 1970s and 1980s to explore the long-standing conflicts around land, rights, indigeneity, and identity in rural Brazil. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…