Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams McCully, Patrick

McCully, Patrick

ISBN 10: 1856494357 / ISBN 13: 9781856494359

Published by Zed Books, 1996

About this Item

Black cloth boards with white lettering on spine. Ex-library book in nice condition, text is unmarked and pages are tight. Usual library markings.

Seller Inventory # 24350

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams McCully, Patrick
• Publisher: Zed Books
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1856494357
• ISBN 13: 9781856494359
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Good
• Weight: 22 ounces

About this title

Synopsis

Silenced Rivers shows why large dams have become such a controversial technology in both industrialized and developing countries.

The book explains the history and politics of dam building worldwide and shows why large dams have become so controversial. It details the ecological and human impacts of large dams, and shows how the 'national interest' argument is used to legitimize uneconomic and unjust projects which benefit elites while impoverishing tens of millions describes the technical, safety and economic problems of dam technology, the structure of the international dam-building industry, and the role played by international banks and aid agencies tells the story of the rapid growth of the international anti-dam movement, and recounts some of the most important anti-dam campaigns around the world shows how the dam lobby and governments have reacted to criticism by cosmetic 'greening' of the dam-building process, and through state repression outlines the alternatives to dams, and argues that their replacement by less destructive alternatives requires the opening up of the industry's practices to public scrutiny.

About the Author

Patrick McCully is Campaigns Director of the California-based International Rivers Network. He is also an Associate Editor of The Ecologist and a contributing writer for Multinational Monitor. Previous to that he was Co-editor of The Ecologist and at one time also worked for an environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Uruguay. Since 1992 he has worked with activists in India opposing the Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada River. He is co-author of two books, Imperilled Planet (1990) and The Road to Rio: An NGO Action Guide to the Earth Summit (1992).