Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga Associate Professor, Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT http://mit.academia.edu/ClappertonMavhunga Transient Workspaces: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/transient-workspaces ________________________________________ From: MIT Energy Initiative [[email protected]] on behalf of MIT Energy Initiative [[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, April 10, 2014 2:31 PM To: Clapperton Chakanetsa Mavhunga Subject: April 15 - The Deterritorialisation of Cahora Bassa Dam - Allen Isaacman
View this email in your browser<http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/?u=1a57a715520513505ca5cda89&id=834a74bf1c&e=6f67fb330c> [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/1a57a715520513505ca5cda89/images/MC_seminar_series_banner2.jpg] Extending South Africa’s Tentacles of Empire: The Deterritorialisation of Cahora Bassa Dam Allen Isaacman University of Minnesota Tuesday, April 15 4:45 PM Reception to follow Room E19-319<http://mit.us4.list-manage.com/track/click?u=1a57a715520513505ca5cda89&id=84db457b1e&e=6f67fb330c> MIT Campus [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/1a57a715520513505ca5cda89/images/Allen_Isaacman_MC.jpeg] Abstract In 1965, when Portugal proposed constructing a dam at Cahora Bassa, colonial officials envisioned that numerous benefits would flow from the US$515 million hydroelectric project and the managed environment it would produce. These included the expansion of irrigated farming, increased European settlement and mineral output and reduced flooding in this zone of unpredictable and sometimes excess rainfall. Despite these pronouncements, the realities on the ground forced Portugal to drastically modify its vision for the dam. During construction, the growing success of the liberation struggle against Portuguese colonialism in Mozambique turned the dam into a focal point in a larger struggle, and Cahora Bassa became a security project, which the minority regime in South Africa and the Salazar dictatorship in Portugal masked as a development initiative. In return for South Africa’s strategic assistance, Portugal agreed to export to South Africa the vast majority of the energy that Cahora Bassa would produce at an artificially low price. This agreement transformed the dam from the multi-purpose hydroelectric project into a dam whose principal function was to provide cheap energy to mines and industry at a fraction of the world price—thereby enhancing Pretoria’s energy security. Of greater significance, the agreement enabled the apartheid regime to extend its tentacles of empire to the dam site in very heart of the colony, leading to the deterritorialization of Cahora Bassa. About the Speaker Allen Isaacman is Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota. He also holds the position of Extraordinary Professor at The University of Western Cape and taught at Univerdade Eduardo Mondlane shortly after Mozambican independence. His first book Mozambique: The Africanization of a European Institution: The Zambezi Prazos 1750 - 1902 won the African Studies Association Melville Herskovits Award. The Seminar Series is made possible with the support of IHS-CERA. [IHS-CERA Homepage]<http://mit.us4.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=1a57a715520513505ca5cda89&id=c91eb52a3e&e=6f67fb330c> Copyright © 2014 MIT Energy Initiative, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you registered at our website. Our mailing address is: MIT Energy Initiative 77 Massachusetts Avenue Building E19-307 Cambridge, MA 02139 Add us to your address book<http://mit.us4.list-manage1.com/vcard?u=1a57a715520513505ca5cda89&id=eb3c6d9c51> unsubscribe from this list<http://mit.us4.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=1a57a715520513505ca5cda89&id=eb3c6d9c51&e=6f67fb330c&c=834a74bf1c> update subscription preferences<http://mit.us4.list-manage.com/profile?u=1a57a715520513505ca5cda89&id=eb3c6d9c51&e=6f67fb330c> _______________________________________________ Sci-tech-public mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/sci-tech-public
