Thayer Scudder's research works | California Institute of Technology and other places

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The Future of Large Dams: Dealing with Social, Environmental, Institutional and Political Costs

Article

April 2012

1,486 Reads

509 Citations

Thayer Ted Scudder

Viewed by some as symbols of progress and by others as inherently flawed, large dams remain one of the most contentious development issues on Earth. Building on the work of the now defunct World Commission on Dams, Thayer Scudder wades into the debate with unprecedented authority. Employing the Commission's Seven Strategic priorities, Scudder charts the 'middle way' forward by examining the impacts of large dams on ecosystems, societies and political economies. He also analyses the structure of the decision-making process for water resource development and tackles the highly contentious issue of dam-induced resettlement, illuminated by a statistical analysis of 50 cases.

Resettlement Outcomes of Large Dams

Article

January 2012

433 Reads

60 Citations

Thayer Scudder

The adverse social impacts of most large dams continue to be unacceptable. They also reduce a project’s potential benefits. This is especially the case with resettlement which some experts (including Asit Biswas and Robert Goodland, former Chief Environmental Adviser of the World Bank Group) consider to be the most contentious issue associated with large dams. Fortunately, there is potential for helping resettling communities to become project beneficiaries.

Preparing for Resettlement Associated with Climate Change

October 2011

1,780 Reads

292 Citations

Science

[...]

Although there is agreement that climate change will result in population displacements and migration, there are differing views on the potential volume of flows, the likely source and destination areas, the relative role of climatic versus other factors in precipitating movements, and whether migration represents a failure of adaptation (1, 2). We argue that climate change mitigation and adaptation (M&A) actions, which will also result in significant population displacements, have not received sufficient attention. Given the emergence of resettlement as an adaptation response, it is critical to learn from research on development-forced displacement and resettlement (DFDR). We discuss two broad categories of potential displacement in response to (i) climate impacts themselves and (ii) large-scale M&A projects. We discuss policy approaches for facilitating migration and, where communities lack resources to migrate, suggest guidelines for organized resettlement.

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Development-induced community resettlement

Article

January 2011

336 Reads

32 Citations

T. Scudder

... Indeed, the burgeoning body of literature exploring planned relocation as a response to climate change flags similar issues observed in other contexts-disaster, development, poverty alleviation and tourism. Rather than a manageable process that re-establishes the lives and livelihoods of the displaced in a new location, planned relocation is a complex, nonlinear and unpredictable project that often leads to impoverishment (Cernea, 1997;Rogers & Xue, 2015;Scudder, 2011;De Sherbinin et al., 2011;Wilmsen & Adjartey, 2020). As such, many scholars, including us, suggest it should only be considered as a last resort for climate change (Barnett & O'Neill, 2012;Farbotko et al., 2020;Rogers & Xue, 2015;Siders & Ajibade, 2021;Wilmsen & Webber, 2015). ...
Reference:
20 Planned Relocation or In-Situ Management? Comparing the Justice Outcomes of Two State-Led Climate Change Adaptation Responses in the Philippines