Li et al. 2001. Reservoir resettlement in China: past experience and the Three Gorges Dam

Abstract: This paper reviews involuntary resettlement resulting from dam-building, which has been ignored relative to the dominant focus of migration research in China, rural to urban migration. Reservoir resettlement in China has a long history, often of misery and hardship for those displaced. Relocatees affected by the Three Gorges Project (1994-2009) on the Yangtze River face a similar situation. In China priority has been given to building the dam to provide electricity, flood control, and navigation. Less attention has been paid to the problems of the people affected by reservoir inundation. The rural population forced to relocate and rural-urban migrants generally have been discriminated against by national policies. This paper was selected as a worked example of consequences of national scale policy for local peoples, with a particular focus on power imbalance and displacement, themes which also emerge from the lead presentation by Dr. King.

Li et al. 2001 Reservoir resettlement and Three Gorges Dam.pdf — PDF document, 247Kb