Dam Internationalism: Rethinking Power, Expertise and Technology in the Twentieth Century

During the 20th century dam-building became a truly global endeavour. Built around the world, they generated networks of actors, institutions and companies embedded in globally circulating technological knowledge and discourses of modernization and development. This volume takes a global approach to the history of dams, exploring the complex power relations and internationalist entanglements that shaped them.

Shedding new light on the globalization of technology and international power struggles that defined the 20th century, Dam Internationalism shows that dams are artefacts in their own right and have created new and revisionist histories that urge us to rethink classic narratives. From international cooperation, to the importance of the Cold War and the capitalist/socialist divide, the success of western technology, the prominence of the United States, the alleged impotence of people affected by dams, and the uniformity of infrastructure. Each chapter showcases a different case study from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America to show that dams enabled marginalized countries and actors to articulate themselves and pursue their own political and socio-economic goals in a century dominated by the Global North.

Vincent Lagendijk is Assistant Professor of History at Maastricht University, Netherlands, and Senior Researcher at the Rathenau Institute, The Hague. His research focuses on transnational connections, the role of experts, ideology and technology.

Frederik Schulze holds the substitute chair for Ibero-American History at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, and Privatdozent at the University of Münster, Germany.