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AEGIS European Conference on African Studies
11 - 14 July 2007
African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Kariba Dam and the “big push” for development: A socio-cultural history of a technological large-scale scheme as a catalyst for modernity
| Panel |
62. Copper and Migrants: Towards a social history of industrialisation and social change in central Africa 1890-1990
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| Paper ID | 624 |
| Author(s) |
Tischler, Julia
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| Paper |
No paper submitted
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| Abstract | By looking at Kariba Dam, one of the most prestigious development projects in Southern Africa on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe, my paper aims at tracing ideas of ‘development’ in the context of late colonialism and early independence. I intend to highlight the diffusion of modernization discourse across different socio-political layers and to analyze its political implications and material manifestations. Representing a major constituent of White settlers’ development agenda, Kariba Dam was built between 1955 and 1959 ostensibly to meet the growing energy needs of the region. The construction of the dam drastically changed the landscape of the Zambezi Valley, entailing the forced removal of 57.000 Gwembe Tonga. In accordance with dominant modernization discourse, these ruptures were readily accepted by the colonial governments as sacrifices which had to be made to transform the country into a ‘developed’ society. |
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