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Title: Changes in Social Capital Associated with the Construction of the Belo Monte Dam: Comparing a Resettled and a Host Community
Nations in the Global South have increasingly embraced large hydropower. Hydropower development typically involves the displacement and resettlement of entire communities and has a range of social and ecological impacts. Some communities become the operational center for the dam construction, as well as host new neighborhoods of resettlers. One of the less-studied impacts of dams is the potential loss of social capital both in resettled and host communities. Here, we ask how the Belo Monte dam in the Amazon is associated with social capital in a resettled group and a non-resettled population that, while not experiencing resettlement, nevertheless was impacted by the dam as well. We use measures of cognitive and structural social capital. Results suggest that resettlers have lower structural social capital across two proxy indicators, whereas the host community has lower cognitive social capital. Future research and social impact assessments should pay more attention to how hydropower impacts both kinds of social capital.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2020790 1639115
NSF-PAR ID:
10349481
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Human Organization
Volume:
81
Issue:
1
ISSN:
0018-7259
Page Range / eLocation ID:
22 to 34
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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