Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the cultural politics of hydroelectric development produced by citizens and social movements. Focusing on contentious and competing discourses, it investigates the accusation that activists leading the fight against a series of dams proposed for the Indian Himalayan reaches of the River Ganga were motivated by their self-interested pursuit of name recognition. Through the study of these critiques—which emerged during an ethnographic research project spanning from 2008 to 2009—the article gives insight into an often-overlooked sociological phenomenon: the issue of why more people do not join dam opposition movements in contemporary India.
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