IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 24

as decisions affecting resources,
ecology, inhabitants, and industry
are quickly being made with little
public consultation or open analy-
sis of alternatives, socio-ecological
impacts, or land-use tradeoffs. Yet
as shown, these are the communi-
ties most heavily affected by dam-
related forest loss, displacement,
and food insecurity.
Indeed, the activism space around
hydro-development has become in-
creasingly violent, with many high-
profile murders and kidnappings
being reported in the past ten years.
Ironically, it seems in seeking to
provide energy, climate, and social
security, those are the very same
securities jeopardized and in many
cases eroded through such infrastruc-
ture projects [55]-[58]. Literature on
the political economy of energy tran-
sitions suggests that rather than safe-
guarding marginalized communities
from depravation, large-scale energy
projects often serve to exacerbate
existing social tensions and conflict,
intensifying various manifestations of
insecurity [55].
Furthermore, large-scale hydro-
power is often proposed as a tool
for energy security, stimulating local
economic development, or power
export revenue through a low-emis-
sion renewable energy technology
[44]. However recent research finds
that national plans for greater ener-
gy security often overestimate the
need for infrastructure and invest-
ment [59]. Rather, exploration of
numerous contemporary dam con-
flicts, such as the Yacyreta Dam on
the Parana River, along the border
of Argentina and Paraguay, the Belo
Monte dam of Brazil, the Tawang
dams of Arunachal Pradesh, India,
and the Mekong Dams of Laos show
that the use of this win-win low-car-
bon development "narrative" can
in fact disguise perverse incentives
of state elites for construction, and
perpetuate the imbalance of power

24

dynamics among local and global
actors [29], [30], [60]. The modern-
day hydro-resource conflict can be
framed as a reiteration of resource
conflicts past and ongoing, proving
waterscapes to be a new frontier in
the local resource commodification
and territorialization conflict [61].
Power dynamics and political eco-
nomy play a key role in determin-
ing the winners and losers among
different energy pathways, and in
whose favor the trade-off between
competing policy objectives weighs.
In a state-led, investor-driven, donor-
shaped policy context where state
elites and international actors exer-
cise imbalanced agency relative to
constituents, the interests of the
poor and the interests of the environ-
ment can be marginalized [62]. For
this reason many civil society repre-
sentatives and people from affected
communities argue that the issue of
land rights and access to rights must
now more than ever be a core part of
development planning, rather than
sitting on the periphery. As such, the
literature calls for increased focus
on cultural politics - the institutions
and relations of power among state
and non-state actors that govern
energy regimes and the outcomes
they produce [63]-[65].
Returning to our initial discus-
sion of the global resurgence of the
large dam, if we see the trend toward
large dams as part of this complex
sphere, the issue of energy supply
quickly becomes embedded in more
imminent issues of rights and inclu-
sion, necessitating critical reflection
on our global, discursive defini-
tions of "problems" and "solutions."
Not addressing these key issues
can lead to inaccurate, non-strategic
policy-making and possibly lead to
the assumption of false dichotomies
between policy goals such as emis-
sions reduction and poverty reduc-
tion [66]. High-modernist initiatives
that orient themselves around prob-
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

lem solving without precedent of
consensus on the very definition of
the "problem" being solved run the
risk of undermining their own objec-
tives by predetermining the ways in
which the "problem" can be concep-
tualized, discussed, and assessed.
In ostensibly solving problems of
energy demand and climate change,
the hydropower resurgence may per-
petuate even larger problems both
at the local landscape and for global
commons [62], [67].

In a World where Novel is
Normal, Mundane is the
New Radical
We contribute to the growing body
of literature on sustainable energy
transitions by placing the mega-energy
infrastructure resurgence in the con-
text of the confluence of global
dynamics that have led to its devel-
opment. From this perspective, we
posit that truly sustainable energy
futures will require more radical
attention to the global dynamics and
cultural politics that account for the
power-play among actors, and more
radical attention to our definitions of
problems and their solutions, as
opposed to a focus on technological
innovations and financing them.
Critical issues such as power sym-
metry, land rights, representation,
and participation have persisted for
centuries, but rarely factor into ener-
gy planning policy in concrete cen-
tral ways. The work ahead is thus to
create formalized spaces for inclu-
sion of a diversity of actors in the
planning process, and for the exer-
cise of rights to participate in that
process. We suggest three ways in
which local and international energy
planning processes can be revised.
As Escobar's framework of cul-
tural politics suggests, [65] first is
the need to limit cultural dominance
in the state's key institutions, espe-
cially those that create and imple-
ment development policy and local
∕

JUNE 2018



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018

Contents
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover2
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 1
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Contents
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 4
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 5
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 6
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 7
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 8
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 9
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 10
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 11
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 12
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 13
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 14
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 15
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 16
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 17
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 18
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 19
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 20
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 21
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 22
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 23
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 24
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 25
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 26
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 27
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 28
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 29
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 30
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 31
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 32
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 33
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 34
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 35
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 36
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 37
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 38
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 39
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 40
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 41
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 42
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 43
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 44
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 45
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 46
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 47
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 48
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 49
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 50
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 51
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 52
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 53
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 54
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 55
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 56
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 57
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 58
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 59
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 60
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 61
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 62
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 63
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 64
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 65
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 66
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 67
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 68
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 69
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 70
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 71
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 72
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 73
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 74
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 75
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 76
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 77
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 78
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 79
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 80
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 81
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 82
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 83
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 84
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 85
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 86
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 87
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - 88
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover3
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2018 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_december2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_september2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_june2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_march2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2017
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2016
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2015
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2014
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_winter2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_fall2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_summer2013
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ieee/technologysociety_spring2013
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com