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Rivers and roads: A political ecology of displacement, development, and chronic liminality in Zambia's Gwembe Valley

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  • Allison Harnish
  • Lisa Cliggett
  • Thayer Scudder

Abstract

The construction of Kariba Dam in 1958 ignited a legacy of livelihood insecurity and chronic liminality that reverberated through subsequent generations. A community under one chief was split into two marginal resettlement sites more than 200 km apart. Sixty years after the dam's construction, and following a series of cyclical shifts between access to and alienation from international development programming, the World Bank has returned to initiate the new Bottom Road, which at last reconnects these two communities. It has also released funds for a new irrigation development and support program. Research presented here suggests that, while the Bottom Road is spurring economic growth, it is also delivering capitalized outsiders, eager to claim land and water resources from long‐resident Gwembe Tonga farmers. Analysis of two commercial agriculture/irrigation schemes, at the road's southern and northern terminuses, reveals that new infrastructure often leads to rapid natural resource alienation and livelihood upheaval. Integrating the lens of chronic liminality with the hydrosocial cycle, we situate these projects within a broader regional history of land and water privatization and reveal how water‐linked development interventions produce vulnerabilities for particular segments of the local population.

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  • Allison Harnish & Lisa Cliggett & Thayer Scudder, 2019. "Rivers and roads: A political ecology of displacement, development, and chronic liminality in Zambia's Gwembe Valley," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 250-263, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecanth:v:6:y:2019:i:2:p:250-263
    DOI: 10.1002/sea2.12151
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    Cited by:

    1. Jennifer Liu & Roy Brouwer & Dilruba Fatima Sharmin & Susan Elliott & Leah Govia & Danielle Lindamood, 2022. "Industry Perspectives on Water Pollution Management in a Fast Developing Megacity: Evidence from Dhaka, Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Reyes-García, Victoria & Fernández-Llamazares, Álvaro & Bauchet, Jonathan & Godoy, Ricardo, 2020. "Variety of indigenous peoples’ opinions of large infrastructure projects: The TIPNIS road in the Bolivian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    3. Tucker, Catherine M. & Hribar, Mateja Šmid & Urbanc, Mimi & Bogataj, Nevenka & Gunya, Alexey & Rodela, Romina & Sigura, Maurizia & Piani, Lucia, 2023. "Governance of interdependent ecosystem services and common-pool resources," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    4. Syed Al Atahar, 2021. "Do people displaced by development need more than financial compensation? Evidence from Bangladesh," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 39(2), pages 212-232, March.

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