THE IMPACTS ON LIVELIHOODS AND SOCIAL CAPITAL FROM DAM-INDUCED

RESETTLEMENT: A GLOBAL REVIEW

By

Rebecca Minardi

A THESIS

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Community Sustainability–Master of Science

2019




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 ABSTRACT

THE IMPACTS ON LIVELIHOODS AND SOCIAL CAPITAL FROM DAM-INDUCED

RESETTLEMENT: A GLOBAL REVIEW

By

Rebecca Minardi

Large hydroelectric dams have been constructed at a rapid rate throughout the Global

South in recent years. This dam boom has led to the resettlement of millions of people who are

removed from their ancestral land and are often not compensated adequately for their lost

resources. Post-resettlement, households and communities experience a host of changes, often

negative, which lead to a decreased standard of living and wellbeing. In this research, I am

interested in the changes to livelihoods and losses to social capital that resettled communities

face. I conducted a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed articles of large hydroelectric dam-induced

resettlement cases in the Global South published from 1980 to 2019. To do so, I, along with

three other students, developed a codebook to analyze the implications of dam-induced

resettlement across 101 cases that covered 50 dams in 21 countries. The results show changes in

90 cases in at least one of the five categories (natural, physical, human, financial, and social) that

I use to define livelihoods. The most common ways livelihoods decline include the loss of

natural capital such as land, decreases in soil quality, changes to food access, decreases in

income, and the abandonment of fishing and farming. In 23 cases, social capital decreased which

was often the cause of a litany of compounding issues including: increases in conflict and ethnic

tension, decreases in income, declines in mental health, and loss of culture heritage. As large

dam construction continues to boom, it is imperative to think about ways in which this process

can be more sustainable. By improving the resettlement process, we can help to help mitigate the

negative changes to livelihoods that the resettled face.

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to acknowledge Laura Castro-Diaz, Maria Alexandra Garcia and Samyuktha Iyer as

the members of the coding team; I enjoyed working with you all and look forward to more

coding in the future. I would like to acknowledge the financial support I have had over my three

years at Michigan State University: the Environmental Science and Policy Program Doctoral

Fellowship, the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fel1owship, the Rethinking Dams

Project, and Dr. Emilio Moran. I would like to acknowledge the members of my committee, Dr.

Jennifer Hodbod and Dr. Mark Axelrod. I would especially like to acknowledge my advisor, Dr.

Maria Claudia Lopez, who supported me through all of life’s changes during my time in graduate

school. Finally, I want to acknowledge my husband, Andy Michalowitz. You motivate me to be

a better person. Thank you.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………….….v
.
LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………………………vi

KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………………….vii

1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND…………………………………………….…1

2. LITERATURE REVIEW………………………………………………………….………8

2.1 Overview of ecological and social impacts of dams……………………….…….8

2.2 Overview of dam induced resettlement……………………………………….…11
2.3 Resettlement planning and post-resettlement support…………………………...13
2.4 Livelihoods changes among the resettled.……………………………………….17
2.5 Declining social capital among the resettled…………………………………….18

3. METHODS.……………………………………………………………………………….21
3.1 Type of study…………………………………………………………………….21
3.2 Data collection…………………………………………………………………...23
3.3 Study design……………………………………………………………………...24
3.4 Data analysis……………………………………………………………………..28

4. DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………..32
4.1 Overview of cases………………………………………………………………..32
4.2 Overview of changes to livelihoods……………………………………………...35
4.3 Changes to livelihoods: natural capital and activities…………………………....40
4.4 Changes to livelihoods: physical capital and access to physical assets………….43
4.5 Changes to livelihoods: human capital and activities…………………………....45
4.6 Changes to livelihoods: the financial category of livelihoods………….…....…..48
4.7 Changes to livelihoods: social capital and activities………………………….…50
4.8 Recommendations for research and resettlement plans……………………….…56
4.8.1 Recommendations for future research on social capital changes.…......57
4.8.2 Recommendations for future resettlement planning……………….…..59

5. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………...62

APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………………….65
APPENDIX A: Database studies included in this thesis…………………………….66
APPENDIX B: Modified Codebook………………………………………………...72

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………86

iv
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Livelihoods codes used for analysis………………………….……………………30

Table 2. Dataset dam distribution by country……………………………………………….33

Table 3. Dam in dataset and distribution among cases……………………………………...33

Table 4. Modified Codebook………………………………………….…………………….72

v
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Dams under construction and planned in 2015……………………..……….…….2

Figure 2. Research process flow chart………………………………………………….…...25

Figure 3. Degree of changes to livelihoods among the resettled……………………………37

Figure 4. Impacts to livelihoods post resettlement………………………………………….38

Figure 5. Changes within the livelihoods categories………………………….…………….39

vi
 KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS

GW Gigawatts

SIA Social Impact Assessment

RAP Resettlement Action Place

WCD World Commission on Dams

vii
1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Large hydroelectric dams have been constructed at a rapid rate throughout the Global

South in recent years. An estimated 3700 large dams were either planned or under construction

throughout the world in 2015 (Zarfl, Lumsdon, Berlekamp, Tydecks, & Tockner, 2015, Figure

1). In 2017 there were 1267 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower installed capacity around the globe

with the biggest gains in capacity in China, Brazil, and India (International Hydropower

Association, 2018). In fact, 21.9 GW of capacity were added just in 2017 so that now 16.4

percent of global electricity is produced from hydropower (International Hydropower

Association, 2018). Though large dams throughout North America and Europe have rarely been

built since 1975 and are often now being removed, dams have been constructed at an increasing

rate in the Global South for the past several decades (Moran, Lopez, Moore, Muller, &

Hyndman, 2018).

Countries in the Global South anticipate that these large dams will provide much needed

energy for their burgeoning urban populations and growing industries (Moran et al., 2018). Dam

construction activity is currently the highest in the La Plata and Amazon basins in Brazil, the

Ganges-Brahmaputra basin in India and Nepal, the Yangtze basin in China, the Congo basin in

central Africa, and the Mekong basin in southeastern Asia (Zarfl et al., 2015; Winemiller et al.,

2016). When these dams become operational, 25 of the remaining 120 large river systems that

remain free flowing will be dammed (Zarfl et al., 2015). Recent research highlights just how rare

free-flowing rivers are becoming. In fact, only 23 percent of rivers over 1000 kilometers now

flow to the ocean without interruption, and dams and their reservoirs are the most common way

that these rivers become fragmented (Grill et al., 2019).

1
Figure 1. Dams under construction and planned in 2015

Zarfl et al., 2015

According to Scudder (2011), dam construction has led to the displacement of up to 80

million people in the past century through both primary and secondary displacement. Primary

displacement occurs when people relocate as part of the dam planning process; it is somewhat

predictable and can be mitigated through planning and official resettlement programs (Gellert &

Lynch, 2003). Secondary displacement is much less predictable and is rarely planned for, such as

when people downstream from a dam must move when fish species they rely on decline (Gellert

& Lynch, 2003) or the area flooded by the reservoir is larger than initially foreseen (Moran et al.

2018). These displaced populations are often not compensated adequately for their lost resources

and social upheaval that results from forced relocation (Siciliano, Urban, Tan-Mullins, Pichdara,

& Kim, 2016; Sabir, Torre, & Magsi, 2017; González-Parra & Simon, 2008). This can lead to a

reduction in standard of living and loss of employment among other impacts.

Though downstream and upstream communities experience losses due to a dam’s

construction (Richter et al., 2010; Castro-Diaz, Lopez, & Moran, 2018), my research focuses on

2
the many cases of resettlement around the world where communities are relocated when their

homes and lands were submerged under a dam’s waters or needed for the construction of the

dam. The cases in my dataset are focused on communities that were resettled because of the

construction of the dam; these communities were slightly upstream of the dam (where the

reservoir is filled) or located right where the dam itself is constructed. No downstream

communities are included in the dataset. This does not imply that downstream communities are

not impacted. Instead they are rarely studied (Castro-Diaz, et al., 2018), and therefore their

impacts are not well known. The recommendations of this thesis are relevant for resettled

populations, the communities impacted by dams that have been studied the most. But I

acknowledge the need to focus on under-studied communities, such as downstream communities.

For the purposes of this research, resettlement is considered part of an official plan put

into place by the government or dam authorities to help planned displaced people relocate.

Resettled communities are different than displaced communities, because displaced communities

are those who are left on their own without government support or compensation to find new

homes and territory when theirs were lost during dam construction. Therefore, all resettled

people have been displaced but not all displaced people are resettled1. In this research, I am

especially interested in the changes to livelihoods and losses in social capital that resettled

communities face. I aim to uncover which aspects of livelihoods change, how they change, and

how often this occurs among resettled populations across dam cases. I define livelihoods as “the

assets..., the activities, and the access to these (mediated by institutions and social relations) that

1
There are, however, cases where “resettled” people were not actually displaced by the dam. Through bribery and
other forms of corruption, households were able to secure land, houses, or other forms of compensation in
resettlement sites and elsewhere, even though their previous homes were not submerged by the reservoir (Hass et al.
2008). This has been reported in Lesotho, Thailand and Zambia among other countries (Hass et al. 2008). However,
none of the cases in this thesis’ database reported this type of corruption occurring. Therefore, for this study, all
resettled people have been displaced, but not all displaced people are resettled.

3
together determine the living gained by the individual or household” (Allison & Ellis, 2001, p.

379). Social capital, one asset of livelihoods, comprises “the kinship networks, associations,

membership organizations and peer-group networks that people can use in difficulties or turn to

in order to gain advantage” (Allison & Horemans, 2006, p.758). I provide a more comprehensive

definition and explanation of livelihoods and social capital, and their importance within the

context of communities impacted by dams, in the literature review.

My research questions are:

1. Do livelihoods change for households and communities post resettlement? If so, how do

livelihoods change and how common are these changes reported across dam sites in the

Global South?

2. Does social capital change for resettlement communities? If so, how does social capital

change and how common are these changes reported across dam sites in the Global

South?

To answer these questions, I conducted a meta-analysis, a study of studies, of resettlement

cases due to hydroelectric dam construction throughout the Global South. To do so I, along with

a group of three students from Michigan State University, built a database of case studies of dam

induced resettlement. We coded each of these studies with measurable variables focused on

resettlement and compensation. I then analyzed the variables to uncover trends among

livelihoods and social capital across the cases. A full description of this process, including

crafting the codebook, building the database, and coding cases, is detailed in the methods

section.

This thesis contributes to the literature because though scores of studies have been

conducted to identify how communities fare post-resettlement (Randell, 2016; Tilt, Braun & He,

4
2009; Wilmsen, 2016), few studies have provided a comprehensive analysis of dam impacted

peoples across countries. One of the seminal comparative analyses of large dams was completed

in 2002 and published in 2005 by Scudder. My research builds on this fundamental work.

Scudder (2005) examined the changes to standard of living of resettled people across 50 dams

and found an improved standard of living in only three cases (Scudder, 2005). Scudder (2005)

coded documents2 related to these dams and focused on general dam data, resettlement policy

issues, information related to his Four-stage Framework3, resettlement outcomes, and

downstream impacts.

My thesis, a meta-analysis of resettlement outcomes focused on the impacts and changes

to social capital and livelihoods that resettled communities experience, is a different type of

analysis than what Scudder (2005) conducted. His analysis focused mainly on four resettlement

outcomes that he categorized into: 1) the majority of the resettled raised their living standards

because of project planning; 2) the majority of resettled raised their living standards without help

from project planning; 3) living standards are worse for the majority; and 4) living standards

worsen, but the resettled were able to benefit from non-project opportunities (Scudder, 2005).

There are other important differences between my work and Scudder’s. The first difference is

with respect to the scope of the cases studies: I focus solely on dams constructed in the Global

South.4 Secondly, I analyzed only peer reviewed journal articles published from 1980 to 2019. I

2
Along with peer-reviewed journal articles, Scudder included reports from environmentalists, historians, and social
scientists; PhD dissertations; reports from the World Bank’s Operations Evaluations Department from 1993, 1998
and 2001; and case studies by the World Commission on Dams (WCD).
3
Scudder’s (2005) Four-stage Framework is a behavioral and predictive model focused on how the resettled are
most likely to behave if adequate opportunities are available for them to benefit from the dam’s construction.
According to Scudder, the resettled rarely make it past stage 2. The stages are as follows. Stage 1: planning for
resettlement before removal. Stage 2: resettlement and dealing with the initial loss of standard of living. Stage 3:
community and economic development that leads to an increased standard of living for the first generation of
resettled. Stage 4: the handing over of sustainable resettlement processes to the second generation of resettled.
4
Of the 50 dams surveyed in Scudder (2005), six dams were in the US, one was in Norway, and one was in Canada.

5
have narrowed the analysis to only include dams in the Global South as this is where large dams

are being constructed today. This contrasts with the Global North where many dams are now

being removed (Moran et al., 2018). Narrowing the scope conditions in this way will help

highlight the unique issues resettled communities face in the Global South.

Another difference of this study compared to Scudder (2005) is theoretical. Scudder

focused on five of the eight impoverishment risks developed by Cernea (1996) in his

Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction Model. One of the impoverishment risks not utilized

in Scudder’s survey was social disarticulation which occurs due to a loss of social capital. In a

footnote, Scudder pointed out that the “inability or unwillingness of project authorities to resettle

people in communities and social units of their choice” was a problem in 15 of the dam cases (p.

329). Thus, I will include a focus on social capital in my analysis as this is a common problem

faced by dam resettled peoples (Bisht, 2009; Abrampah, 2017; González-Parra & Simon, 2008;

Nguyen, Pham & de Bruyn, 2017).

At the end of his comparative case study, Scudder (2005) provided several

recommendations for dam authorities to help communities retain and even improve their

standard of living post-resettlement. Based on his research, he called for a single project

authority to be responsible for both the construction of the dam and the Resettlement Action Plan

(RAP) instead of a consortium of government groups and private companies. He reiterated the

importance of pre-project assessments such as Social Impacts Assessments (SIAs) in order to

accurately identify the number of people who will need to be relocated as under-counting

resettled households is a leading cause of not setting aside enough money for the resettlement

process (Scudder, 2005). More information on how RAPs and SIAs are typically conducted, and

how they fit into the context of the resettlement process will be provided in the literature review.

6
Finally, Scudder (2005) recommended incorporating the host populations in the RAP in order to

mitigate potential conflicts between hosts and the resettled. As will be shown in the results of

this study, in many cases these recommendations are not heeded today. Dams construction and

RAPs are often managed by a hodge-podge of entities, SIAs may be rushed or shoddily

conducted, and conflict between host communities and the resettled remains common (Kleinitz

& Naser, 2011; Morvaridi, 2004; Égré & Senécal, 2003; Xi, 2016; Heggelund, 2006).

Therefore, this research aims to provide further recommendations, that build off those offered by

Scudder (2005) and other researchers, for dam authorities based on the evidence from this thesis

of how the livelihoods and social capital change for the resettled. This research also provides

recommendations for future research among resettled communities focusing especially on how

social capital changes post-resettlement. The rest of this thesis will be divided into the following

sections: 1) a literature review detailing the social and ecological impacts of hydroelectric dams,

how the resettlement process is typically conducted, and definitions of livelihoods and social

capital; 2) the methods of the meta-analysis including building a database, creating a codebook,

and the coding process; 3) the discussion including how livelihoods and social capital were

impacted among the cases and recommendations for dam authorities and future research; and 4)

the conclusions of this study.

7
2. LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature review is composed of five sub-sections. Sub-section 1 provides a

summary of the ecological and social impacts of hydroelectric dam construction and operation.

In sub-section 2, I give an overview of dam induced resettlement. Sub-section 3 describes the

resettlement planning process and provides examples from case studies highlighting how the

resettled fare when this process does not go smoothly or when post-resettlement support is not

put into place. In sub-section 4, I define livelihoods and how this definition fits into resettlement

cases, and finally in sub-section 5, I define social capital and why it is the foundation of

livelihoods for the resettled.

2.1 Overview of ecological and social impacts of dams

When a hydroelectric dam is constructed on a river a reservoir is created, and the water

stored in the reservoir generates energy as the water flows pass turbines. The filling of the

reservoir floods adjacent land (which could include natural and human developed landscapes).

Though hydroelectric dams are often promoted as a sustainable answer for energy provision,

research has shown that depending on the size and location of the dam, the dam may be far from

carbon neutral (Vilela & Reid, 2017; Giles, 2006; Fearnside, 2016). Vilela and Reid (2017)

developed a HydroCalculator to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of dams to determine if

they cancel out the energy the dam creates; the authors found that in many cases it may take

years or even decades for a dam to be considered a carbon neutral energy source. This is often

because methane is created when flooded vegetation decomposes in the water of a reservoir

(Fearnside, 2016). When this water flows through the turbines in the dam, the methane, which

8
has twenty times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide over 100 years, is released into

the atmosphere (Giles, 2006).

Beyond the release of greenhouse gases, large dams damage the environment in myriad

ways. These impacts include: loss of forest cover as reservoirs fill with water, loss of sediment

deposits (as they become trapped in the reservoir), downstream nutrient loss and erosion due to

the trapped sediments, declines in fisheries, changes in river morphology and changes to

downstream river deltas (Agostinho, Pelicice, & Gomes, 2008; Lehner et al., 2011; Fearnside,

2016). Alterations to a river’s flow, which can include changes in speed, quantity, quality, and

seasonal flooding patterns, are a major way that dams harm the environment (Lehner et al.,

2011). Many terrestrial, riverine, and marine species rely on the way a river flows and floods to

trigger their reproduction, dispersal, migration and feeding patterns (Lehner et al., 2011). When

a dam and its reservoir alter the river, these species’ processes are negatively impacted leading to

their decline and extirpation from the local ecosystem (Lehner et al., 2011). One-third of the

freshwater fish species on our planet reside among the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong river basins

(Winemiller et al., 2016). Roughly 450 dams are planned or under construction just for these

three river basins alone; if and when the dams are operationalized, these fish species will face

decline and threats to their very existence (Winemiller et al., 2016). The environmental impacts

of dams also adversely affect the human communities that rely on these ecosystems.

For example, fishers may lose access to certain fish species, while fish species abundance

may decline (Castro-Diaz, et al., 2018; Bui, Schreinemachers, & Berger, 2013; Urban,

Nordensvard, Siciliano, & Li, 2015). Farmers may lose access to river sediments which are

necessary to replenish soil nutrients lost during crop harvest, and their land may therefore be at

risk for erosion (Lehner et al., 2011). Communities that rely on other common pool resources

9
such as forests may lose the ability to hunt and gather forest products such as timber, firewood,

fruit and honey (Ahsan & Ahmed, 2016; Nguyen et al., 2017; Siciliano et al., 2016; Yankson,

Asiedu, Owusu, Urban & Siciliano, 2018). There are also social impacts to these human

communities beyond just those stemming from the environmental damage caused by the dam’s

construction.

However, it can be difficult to predict, track, and measure dam induced social impacts. In

their research, Kirchherr, Pohlner, and Charles (2016) argue that understanding these social

impacts is complex due to the dimensions of time (the life of a dam may run over a century) and

space (up and downstream communities may be affected along with resettled communities). The

work of identifying the myriad, multifaceted ways individuals, households, and communities are

affected by dam construction is often overlooked, downplayed, or ignored by dam authorities

during the dam planning, construction and operational phases. In his research for the World

Commission on Dams (WCD), Vanclay (1999) lists 61 negative social impacts that dam

construction may cause including: reduced availability of food, decreased autonomy, worsened

gender relations, increased inequity, diminished cultural integrity, and the loss of aspirations

about the future. Namy (2007) organizes the most often cited adverse social impacts of dams into

four categories. These include dispossession (losing assets and access to natural resources),

cultural alienation (through loss of local ecological knowledge and connections to ancestral

lands), health impacts (both physical and psychological), and discrimination (marginalized

populations such as indigenous groups and low-income communities are disproportionally

impacted).

Communities close to the dam may struggle to incorporate an influx of construction

workers and other immigrants, leading to increased crime, sexually transmitted diseases and

10
alcoholism (Kedia, 2003; Cernea, 2004). Downstream communities are impacted as the fish

species they rely on decline when seasonal flooding patterns and river flow are adversely

affected by dam construction (Castro-Diaz et al., 2018). Though these examples highlight the

ways downstream and upstream communities may experience losses due to a dam’s construction

(Richter et al., 2010), my research focuses specifically on the resettlement that occurs when

communities are relocated when their homes and lands are destroyed to make way for the

construction of a dam, or when they are submerged under a dam reservoir’s waters.

2.2 Overview of dam induced resettlement

Depending on the size of the dam and reservoir, thousands of households may need to be

resettled. In the largest resettlement case to date, 1.3 million were displaced by the Three Gorges

Dam in China (Wilmsen, 2016). Resettled communities may struggle to retain their livelihoods

as dam construction can vastly alter the landscapes both up and downstream of the dam.

The places where communities are resettled can impact resettlement outcomes. In the literature, I

have identified five different types of resettlement sites. The first type of site is “intact” where

one community is resettled intact in a new space where no other community had previously been

living (though households may not be living exactly near the same neighbors as they were

before). The second is “communities mixed together” where two or more pre-resettlement

communities are resettled together in a new space where no other community had been

living. The third is “resettled into a host community”: one community is resettled into a

community that already exists (the hosts). The fourth is “mixed and resettled into a host

community” where two or more communities are resettled together into a host community.

11
Finally, the site type “scattered throughout multiple types of sites” occurs when one or more

communities are broken up and scattered across site types during resettlement.

Though resettling a community by itself without a host community (the category “intact”)

minimizes the strain to families that can be caused by relocation among strangers (whether other

resettled households or hosts), each of these ways of being resettled can led to problems. When a

community is resettled within an already standing host community, the new families struggle to

fit into the local economy and quickly fall behind or find themselves at a lower social status

compared to the host community (Manatunge, Takesada, Miyata, & Herath, 2009; Souksavath &

Nakayama, 2013). They can also feel isolated, have decreased mental health, experience

discrimination, and face hostility and conflict from the host population (Xi, 2016; Heggelund,

2006). When multiple pre-resettlement communities are merged together post-resettlement in a

new setting, conflict can arise as families struggle to orient themselves to their new homes and

live among strangers (Manatunge et al., 2009; Souksavath & Nakayama, 2013). In the database

of studies used for my analysis, only 17 cases explicitly identified the resettlement type of the

relocated communities even though site type has a big impact on resettlers’ outcomes. In the

recommendations sub-section of this thesis, I call for more research on this topic.

Beyond the problems that can arise from the type of site a community is resettled within,

individuals, households, and communities may face changes to access and use of natural

resources, household structure, the ability to preserve cultural heritage, employment, social

networks and community cohesion, gender roles and health risks (Égré & Senécal, 2003; Tilt et

al., 2009; Bisht, 2009). In his study of the resettlement outcomes for 50 dams, Scudder (2005)

found that lack of adequate financing, political will, and staffing capacity in resettlement

programs along with a lack of employment opportunities and participation by communities in the

12
resettlement process led to decreases in standards of living for the resettled. Employment and

other economic opportunities were inadequate for the resettled in 37 cases, the resettled were not

able to compete with host communities in 14 cases, landlessness was a problem in 38 cases, food

insecurity occurred in 33 cases, and dam authorities did not consider the importance of common

property resources in 27 cases (Scudder, 2005).

2.3 Resettlement planning and post-resettlement support

The WCD created a framework in 2000 with 26 guidelines for dam development to

improve the outcomes for resettled people around the world. A key recommendation advocates

for providing entitlements to impacted people to help them improve their livelihoods while

receiving a share of the dam construction benefits (WCD, 2000). The affected communities must

also participate and be free to negotiate in the resettlement and compensation process (WCD,

2000). However, Tilt et al. (2009) found that these guidelines are often not followed, and

negative outcomes for the resettled are often not planned for which decreases the chance for

post-resettlement viability. These negative outcomes can include: changes to household structure

(cause by out-migration), changes to employment, decreased access to natural resources, changes

to social capital, and decreased health and wellbeing (Tilt et al., 2009).

Before a hydroelectric dam is constructed, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) must be

conducted by dam concessionaires5. These impact studies determine how many people will be

resettled, what issues they will face post-displacement, and how much the process will cost (Égré

& Senécal, 1990). To be effective, these assessments benefit from pressure from NGOs, project

5
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should also be conducted to assess the potential damages to the river,
the surrounding land, and the species that live among both (Nakayama, 1998), but as this thesis analyzes changes to
human communities due to dam construction, I focus my discussion on SIAs.

13
impacted people, and international lending agencies (Égré & Senécal, 2003). However, often not

enough time or data are provided for SIAs, and SIAs tend to focus on broad social issues instead

of the specific ones that may be faced by those directly impacted by the dam (Égré & Senécal,

2003). SIAs may also underestimate decreases to livelihoods, may ignore losses to common pool

resources, and may also not adequately consider socio-cultural impacts like the loss of local

ecological knowledge and a historical connection to the land (Tilt et al., 2009; Vanclay, 1999).

A common failing of many SIAs is that not all the stakeholders who will be negatively impacted

by the dam are included in the planning process (Vanclay, 1999). Finally, when dams are built

without any SIA conducted, the underestimation of resettlement costs becomes one of the main

reasons so many resettlement programs fail (Égré &Senécal, 2003).

After an SIA is conducted, dam authorities (including financiers, builders, and the

government) may implement a Resettled Action Plan (RAP). The RAP details the programs that

are necessary to ensure a successful resettlement and helps to give voice to the resettled by

keeping the government and other organizations on task throughout the process (Égré & Senécal,

1990). The RAP should include a compensation program (which may include cash and/or land)

that is substantial enough to improve the livelihoods of the resettled, as recommended by the

WCD (International Rivers, 2008). The RAP should also include plans for houses for the

resettled and public infrastructure, along with employment opportunities and assistance programs

to maintain livelihoods post-resettlement, although this is typically a difficult outcome to

accomplish (Égré & Senécal, 2003). When the RAP works to predict social risks (preemptively

planning for potential negative outcomes to the resettled) versus trying to address social impacts

after they occur, the resettled are more likely to experience better outcomes (Cernea, 2004).

14
 Case studies of resettlement provide evidence for which factors within the RAP and

resettlement process lead to either positive or negative impacts to households and communities

(Wilmsen, 2016; Tilt et al., 2009; Randell, 2016). According to the authors of a study on the

Kotmale Dam in Sri Lanka, giving the resettlers a choice of where they would be resettled and

what kind of land they would receive along with providing educational opportunities for their

children, improved their livelihoods post-resettlement compared to their pre-resettlement lives

(Takesada, Manatunge, & Herath, 2008). In contrast to these positive outcomes, at the Atatürk

Dam in Turkey, negotiations during the resettlement process largely shut out communities from

participating (Akça, Fujikura, & Sabbağ, 2013). Many of the resettled were therefore not able to

retain their pre-resettlement employment, and income inequality increased between small and

large landowners 20 years post-resettlement (Akça, et al., 2013). In their study on the planning

process for Pakistan’s Diamer Bhasha Dam, Sabir et al. (2017) found that a major reason for the

delay of compensation and resettlement was due to a lack of adequate funding for the program.

This led to major conflicts, some of which turned violent (Sabir et al., 2017). In their study of the

Ralco Dam in Chile, González-Parra and Simon (2008) found that when a RAP does not plan for

helping a community retain its former structure, social capital will decline, and communities will

face family disintegration and social disarticulation. When local organization patterns and

cultural activities are not preserved post-resettlement, social cohesion suffers; the authors

advocate for RAPs to plan for “community re-articulation” post resettlement (González-Parra &

Simon, 2008).

Finally, the RAP should be set up to provide long-term support for the resettled. As the

resettlement process and post-resettlement recovery and adaptation phase often span years and

even decades, there are multiple time periods where dam project authorities can implement

15
programs and policies that impact these processes. When long term support for the resettled is

put in place by project authorities, outcomes for resettled communities are more positive

compared to cases where support ends as soon as the dam is completed. There are several case

studies that provide evidence of this. In a longitudinal study of the Three Gorges Dam in China,

Wilmsen (2016) found that the RAP focused on economic investment in the region which led to

the building of infrastructure such as schools and hospitals while encouraging industries to move

to the area to provide jobs. Thanks to this long-term support, these resettled communities have

experienced decreases in income inequality and increases in food security, wellbeing, income

and employment thirteen years post resettlement (Wilmsen, 2016). Akça et al. (2013) found that

through long-term resettlement planning, educational opportunities have increased post-

resettlement for the Ataturk Dam resettled communities.

However, when this long-term support is not in place in the RAP (as is often the case),

resettled communities are more likely to experience negative outcomes such as impoverishment

and unemployment. For example, at the Bui Dam in Ghana, most of the new jobs created by the

dam’s construction went to immigrants flocking to the area instead of the resettled (Obour,

Owusu, Agyeman, Ahenkan, & Madrird, 2016). Though the resettled were given cash

compensation and monthly grants, this only lasted for one year which the resettled said was not

enough to sustain them (Obour et al., 2016). The authors identified that had the resettled received

training, agricultural extension services, and opportunities for other employment, they may have

been better able to maintain or adapt their livelihoods to better fit their new resettlement location

(Obour et al., 2016). At the Nam Theun 2 Hydropower Project in Laos, insufficient land

resources were set aside for the agricultural needs of the resettled (Souksavath & Nakayama,

2013). Because the community converted from a nomadic lifestyle that practiced slash and burn

16
agriculture to an intensive agriculture lifestyle post-resettlement, the land will not be able to

endure this intensity, and the livelihoods of the resettled will not be sustainable long term once

the project concludes their support for these communities (Souksavath & Nakayama, 2013).

2.4 Livelihoods changes among the resettled

Livelihoods are more than employment or labor; they are a way of life providing

materials beyond just income. Though a livelihood has several working definitions, I use one

from Allison and Ellis’s (2001) work on the livelihoods approach (which became the Sustainable

Livelihoods Approach) that was built in part off Bebbington’s (1999) Capitals and Capabilities

Framework. In his framework, Bebbington (1999) characterized livelihoods based on five assets

or capitals (produced, human, natural, social and cultural). These assets are not only the means

by which people make a living, but they also provide meaning to their world. Therefore, they are

not simply resources used to build livelihoods; assets give people the capability to act and to live

(Bebbington, 1999). Allison and Ellis (2001) updated these assets to include natural, physical,

human, financial and social capital but did not include cultural capital. Therefore, in this thesis,

culture and cultural activities are included under the social category of livelihoods. The one

aspect of a community’s culture that is included within human capital instead of the social

category of livelihoods are shrines venerating ancestors and sites for human remains such as

tombs and graves.

As mentioned in the introduction, livelihoods are defined as “the assets..., the activities,

and the access to these (mediated by institutions and social relations) that together determine the

living gained by the individual or household” (Allison & Ellis, 2001, p. 379). In this way,

livelihoods are an integral piece of a community’s culture and may be part of a family’s means

17
of living for generations. Therefore, changing a livelihood is not as simple as finding a new job

or even switching careers; livelihoods are often essential to a family and community’s identity.

In many cases, livelihoods such as farming, fishing, hunting, and gathering products from the

forest are difficult to maintain post-resettlement. Being forced to change livelihoods can cause a

deep sense of loss and unmooring. Studies of resettlement cases around the world portray

changes in livelihoods; individuals that fished the river, farmed the land, and gathered forest

products for generations have suddenly found themselves in a new setting far from the waters

and land that once sustained them (Wilmsen & Van Hulten, 2017; Ahsan & Ahmed, 2016;

Finley-Brook & Thomas, 2011; Siciliano et al., 2016; González-Parra & Simon, 2008; Polimeni,

Iorgulescu, & Chandrasekara, 2014). The evidence from this thesis will portray the myriad ways

that livelihoods are negatively impacted for the resettled as the assets, activities and access to

both decrease post-resettlement.

2.5 Declining social capital among the resettled

I use the definition of social capital that Allison and Horemans (2006) developed in their

work on the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. Social capital comprises “the kinship

networks, associations, membership organizations and peer-group networks that people can use

in difficulties or turn to in order to gain advantage” (Allison & Horemans, 2006, p.758).

Bebbington (1999) argues that people’s livelihoods are dependent on social capital. The

relationships among community members are often the essential means by which households can

access resources, and this access itself is the most important resource in building sustainable

livelihoods (Bebbington, 1999). Livelihood strategies in times of constraint (such as during

resettlement) may involve a decision to overconsume one type of asset such as social capital. For

18
example, a household may benefit from social networks, but not contribute and attend to their

maintenance (Bebbington, 1999). Thus, capitals are not just inputs to livelihoods but are also

their outputs (Bebbington 1999).

Therefore, I argue that focusing on changes to social capital, just one of the five capitals

or assets that are part of a household’s livelihood, is critical to understanding outcomes post-

resettlement. For the resettled, social capital may decline for myriad reasons. Cultural activities

and rituals that were tied to the land lost to dam construction may vanish. Networks based on

shared labor for farming or management of common pool resources may suffer as the resettled

are forced to change their livelihoods. Families may lose connections to old neighbors and

friends in their new communities when they are mixed with other resettlement groups, scattered

among sites, or placed within a host community. As mentioned previously, resettling a

community intact minimizes the strain to families that can be caused by relocation among

strangers (whether other resettled households or hosts). When a community is resettled within an

already standing host community or mixed with other resettled communities, the families

struggle to fit into the local culture and economy, feel isolated, and experience increased rates of

conflict (Manatunge, Takesada, Miyata, & Herath, 2009; Souksavath & Nakayama, 2013; Xi,

2016; Heggelund, 2006). This can all lead to decreased rates of social capital.

In this literature review section, I highlighted trends found across resettlement case

studies that show the importance of conducting a SIA and implementing a RAP that provides

long-term support for the resettled and includes training and assistance for the resettled to

maintain, adapt, or change their livelihood strategies (Égré & Senécal, 2003; Wilmsen, 2016;

Obour et al., 2016; Yankson et al., 2018). These cases also provide evidence of the importance of

full community participation in the resettlement planning process which includes the accurate

19
dissemination of information, consultation, and the opportunity for negotiation with the dam

project authorities (Akça et al., 2013; Obour et al., 2016; Siciliano et al., 2016) which all can

contribute to improved post-resettlement outcomes including maintaining livelihoods and social

capital. The results of the analysis of this thesis will provide further evidence for what exactly

has changed for the resettled across dam sites along with how common, and often how

detrimental, these changes to livelihoods and social capital are.

20
3. METHODS

3.1 Type of study

This thesis is a meta-analysis of resettlement cases due to large hydroelectric dam

construction throughout the Global South published in peer reviewed journals from 1980 to

2019. The meta-analysis, essentially a study of studies, was first developed in the medical field

in the 1970s (Rudel, 2008). Because researchers aggregated data from multiple studies, these

studies’ data had to have been collected on the same variables, with the same methods, and in

similar settings for a meta-analysis to be properly conducted (Rudel, 2008). This is very unlikely

in non-experimental studies as data needs to be collected in a uniform manner, and the analyses

must be identical across studies. Instead, a model centered approach rather than a data centered

approach can be utilized for these types of meta-analyses (Rudel, 2008). With my approach, I

pool the methods that each researcher uses in their study detailing what people are experiencing

post-resettlement. Each study (article) is a case or a collection of cases, while each report of how

the resettled are faring becomes as observation in the dataset (Rudel, 2008). An analysis across

these cases shows the common impacts to, and experiences of, the resettled. Since this is a meta-

analysis of non-experimental cases, it requires standardized coding procedures that use

measurable variable definitions to build a collection of data to compare information across cases

(Cox, Villamayor-Tomas & Hartberg, 2014; Hruschka et al., 2004).

For our database, we are following the definition of cases and studies described by Cox et

al. (2014). A study is a published journal article that describes one or more cases in depth. A

single study may have more than one case. This could include research that describes

resettlements at more than one dam, research that details the impacts of the same dam on

different communities, or a longitudinal study that looks at the same resettlement community

21
over multiple time periods. We coded the study for as many times as the cases that were

contained within the journal article. For example, Aiken and Leigh (2015) studied resettled

communities at the Bakun Dam and the Batang Ai Dam. Therefore, this study had two cases and

was coded twice, once focusing on the resettled community at Bakun and a second time focusing

on the Batang Ai resettled community. In another example, Wilmsen and van Hulten (2017)

conducted a longitudinal study of the resettled at the Three Gorges Dam. This paper was also

coded twice; the first case was from research conducted on the resettled in 2004, while the

second case was the same resettled group surveyed again in 2016.

Therefore, when I use the term “community” in context of the results of this thesis, I am

referring to an individual resettlement case as defined above. Though the word “community”

usually refers to a collection of households that were all resettled together because of the

construction of one dam, in a few cases the word “community” is more nebulous. The authors of

the studies covering the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Complex

treated these dam complexes as single projects. They did not divide the study populations per

dam but instead treated the population as a single unit impacted by the dam complex project as a

whole; therefore the “communities” at these sites may be residing in multiple locations after

resettlement. In other cases, it is possible that the study’s authors do not differentiate between

communities that were living together before but were separated post-resettlement and vice

versa. We relied on how the authors described their sample population. If they did not

differentiate their population in any way, then we treated it as one case. Therefore, the unit of

analysis of this thesis is a case, which is typically one resettled community, as described above.

Besides the Lesotho Highlands Water Project and the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Complex, there is

one dam per case.

22
3.2 Data collection

I, along with three students, built a database of case studies of large hydroelectric dams

constructed throughout the Global South published in peer reviewed journals. To create this

database, we started by conducting five searches in Google Scholar:

1. hydroelectric dam AND resettle*

2. hydroelectric dam AND compensation
3. hydroelectric dam AND displace*
4. hydroelectric dam AND migration
5. hydroelectric dam AND forced migration

We filtered the search for papers published from 1980 until January 2019. We focused on this

period because the 1980s were the peak of World Bank funding for dam development. After this

decade, protests at dam sites around the world forced the World Bank to start questioning its

promotion of large dams (Goodland, 2010). We are interested in tracking dam construction cases

from the height of World Bank funding and the start of major protests against dams until today

when, once again, financing for large dams by the World Bank has been high for the past decade

(Goodland, 2010). We included journal articles in our database only if the study was:

1. In English
2. About a hydroelectric dam case
3. Located in the Global South
4. Published in a peer reviewed academic journal

After deleting duplicates, we had a total of 400 papers from this search. I then read each abstract

of these 400 papers and scanned the paper to ensure the study fit the following criteria:

1. Focused on resettlement and/or compensation due to a hydroelectric dam(s)6

2. The dam was large7 according to the definition of the International Commission on Large
Dams (ICOLD)

6
I did not include a study in the final sample if the study only included a small section on resettlement with a focus
on something else such as the decline of a fish species.
7
ICOLD defines a large dam as: “A dam with a height of 15 meters or greater from lowest foundation to crest or a
dam between 5 meters and 15 meters impounding more than 3 million cubic meters and defined in greater detail in
the World Register of Dams” (2011, p. 3.).

23
 3. Included at least one case study
4. Was not a viewpoint, editorial, or reviewed paper

I deleted a paper from the database if it did not fit all four criteria. After this process, our

final database had 113 papers. I then read through the bibliographies of many of these papers to

find other resettlement studies that were not already included in the database. From this process,

I added 33 studies to bring our total database to 146 papers. This shows that there were some

limitations with Google Scholar as these 33 papers were not included in the original search.

However, our database includes a wide variety of studies across years and countries which we

feel covers a robust sample of resettlement cases in the Global South.

3.3 Study design

As we built the database, we were simultaneously creating a codebook. This codebook

was crafted to approach and answer our research questions (some of which are outside the scope

of my thesis). For this process, we adapted Ratajczyk et al.’s (2016) coding procedure. Our

method was both emergent (we formalized and defined codes based on the resettlement and

compensation procedures portrayed in the cases we read) and based on the literature such as

Scudder (2005), Cernea (1996), and Allison and Horemans (2006). This process was not linear

but instead looped back on itself as papers were coded, codes were refined, and the codebook

finalized. The codes coalesced through a process of collaboration by the research team to

determine the meaning of the codes and guidelines for using them. This process took from

February to June 2018 as codes were combined, split, added, deleted and explicitly defined (see

figure 2). Based on the coding procedures elucidated by MacQueen, McLellan, Kay, and

Milstein (1998), we defined the code, decided how to measure the code, provided an example of

the code from a case study, and detailed rules about when and how to use the code in a case.

24
Rudel (2008) points out that agreement among coders about which code to use declines when

variables have categories that overlap. We therefore painstakingly edited code definitions to

ensure that each code was uniquely characterizing a piece of information in the text.

Figure 2. Research process flow chart

Adapted from Ratajczyk et al., 2016

After the codebook was largely finalized in June 2018, we began performing intercoder

reliability tests in NVivo, the software we used for coding. Intercoder reliability is determined by

having at least two coders code a text and calculating a numerical index (the intercoder reliability

index) of the level of agreement among the coders (Feng, 2014). We aimed to establish

intercoder reliability in order “to reduce the error and bias generated when individuals (perhaps

unconsciously) take shortcuts when processing the voluminous amount of text-based data

25
generated by qualitative inquiry” (Hruschka et al., 2004, p. 309). We used Cohen’s kappa

coefficient (K) to measure our intercoder reliability because it takes into consideration the

possibility of chance agreement between coders (Feng, 2014; Hruschka et al., 2004). The kappa

coefficient ranges in measurement from 0 (no agreement between coders other than by chance)

and 1 (perfect agreement between coders) (Hruschka et al., 2004).

We worked to achieve a Cohen’s kappa coefficient of above 0.4 among the four coders

for ten cases. This metric was based on Landis and Koch (1977) who listed a score of 0.41 to 0.6

as moderate agreement between two coders.8 With a codebook as large as the one we use for our

research, and because we had four coders instead of two, we determined that a score of 0.4 and

above shows good agreement. Typically, when a meta-analysis is conducted, coders use a much

smaller codebook than the one we built (which has 117 codes); therefore, our intercoder

reliability scores show that our team was able to utilize a large codebook with myriad

information and still have agreement among coders. Our intercoder reliability process took from

September 2018 to February 2019. Each time any of our scores were under 0.4, we carefully

went through the paper together to understand if we were interpreting the codebook’s codes and

rules differently. We continued refining and clarifying the codes’ rules and definitions. We

would then re-code papers and code new papers to improve our intercoder reliability.

In January of 2019, our codebook was finalized with 117 codes (see a modified version

of this codebook in Appendix B). These codes were organized into themes in an emergent

process. As we created our codebook, we began to see patterns in our codes and grouped them

accordingly into themes of similar types of codes. For example, fifteen codes focused on the dam

details which included codes such as cost, size, location, and investors. Twelve codes provide

8
Scores of 0.61 to 0.8 are considered substantial agreement among coders whiles scores of 0.81 to 1 indicate almost
perfect agreement (Landis & Koch, 1977).

26
information about the study itself such as the number of participants and whether it was

longitudinal. Eighteen codes focused on compensation such as if there was a delay in when

compensation was provided, who in a household received it, and what type of compensation was

given. Fifteen codes provide information on whether and how the people impacted by a dam

were able to participate in the resettlement and compensation process (with codes such as

information transparency and the ability to negotiate compensation). Forty-one codes focused on

what changed post-resettlement which includes codes about social capital and livelihoods,

among others. Finally, the remaining 16 codes cover recommendations the study authors made,

economic changes to the region, information about the RAP, whether opportunities varied

depending on demographics, evidence of coping and adaptation, and the presence of conflict and

activism.

After the four researchers coded 10 cases with intercoder reliability scores all above 0.4

(the range for these scores was from 0.4 to 0.74), we began coding cases individually in February

of 2019. We divided the database among the four coders. We created a randomly generated

number for each paper in Excel and then sorted each row in descending order based on these

numbers. Each researcher got a portion of this list to code individually. For my thesis I coded 40

papers, and the rest of the coding team coded 36 studies by March of 2019 (which included

recoding the ten papers that were originally coded during the intercoder reliability testing phase

as we added a few new codes to the codebook). As suggested by Ratajczyk et al. (2016), after we

coded individually, we performed intercoder reliability spot checking to ensure we continued to

have intercoder agreement. Each researcher coded three papers, one from each of the other three

coders. We achieved intercoder reliability scores all above 0.4 for these 12 coded papers. For the

sample of papers I used for my thesis, seven studies were dropped as they covered communities

27
impacted by and sometimes compensated due to dam construction but that were not resettled

(these communities were both upstream and downstream of the dam). As I needed to start my

analysis for this thesis by the spring of 2019, not all the 146 studies in our database could be

coded by this time. Since I wanted to have at least 100 cases for my research, we were able to

finish the coding process with 69 papers because these constituted 101 cases (see Appendix A).

3.4 Data analysis

It is important to note that even if a case does not mention whether one of the variables

that we have in our codebook occurred (such as conflict, relocation choice, or a change in access

to fisheries), this does not mean that the resettled did not experience it. Instead, we can only

infer that the researchers did not report on those variables. Researchers are limited in their scope

of what they can study at a dam site for myriad reasons: their research interests, the research

question they are investigating, the methods they use to collect data and analyze it, the time they

are in the field, how much access they have to the resettled, and the expertise of the researcher,

to mention just a few of the ways a study’s focus cannot encompass all the changes that occur

post-resettlement. In many cases, the study authors noted that their focus was on a specific aspect

or aspects of resettlement.

In fact, the articles in this database cover dozens of research topics including: changes to

mental and physical health, environmental destruction, disruptions to fishers and farmers,

impacts to women, degradation of culture and community identity, the presence of conflict and

activism, increases in ecotourism, energy justice, changes to wealth and well-being, the role of

governance in dam construction, and dam construction as a tool for development. Methods for

data collection include surveys and questionnaires, informal group discussions and focus groups,

28
in-depth semi-structured and structured interviews, sight visits and observation, and document

review. The study population of the cases in the database included both resettled people and

personnel in important positions such as such as dam authorities, government workers, and

members of NGOs. Study sample size ranged from a low of 13 resettled families at the Foz do

Chapecó Dam to a high of 5107 people surveyed before being resettled at the Nam Theun 2 Dam

(Rosa, Busata, Ferraz, & Camponogara, 2018; Erlanger et al.,2008). Several cases compared

resettled communities with non-resettled communities nearby to control for resettlement

outcomes, though this was not the norm among studies. Finally, there were at least 17 difference

frameworks utilized by study authors such as the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework, the

Energy Justice Framework, and Political Ecology.

This variety of research topics, methods, and frameworks explains why the study’s focus

may not leave room for each way a household or community is impacted post-resettlement. For

example, though social capital declined in only 23 cases in this database, this does not mean that

it was not also impacted in the other 78 cases. The authors of these other 78 cases may not have

had the expertise, time, or space to report on changes to social capital. The database is limited by

what the study authors reported; therefore, I use caution by not drawing broad conclusions about

which codes are not reported when. I only reported that something occurred (and coded for it),

when the study explicitly mentioned that it happened. When I only could infer from some of the

descriptions in the case that the change or event may have occurred, I did not code the event

since I did not have the text to report the claim.

Of the 117 codes in our codebook, I focus on the 34 codes that describe changes to

livelihoods which include the codes relevant for the definition of social capital I am using in this

thesis. Though most of these codes are measured by increase, decreased or stayed the same,

29
some codes are dichotomous and measured by yes or no (whether they occurred or not). One of

these 34 codes is called post-livelihoods which includes changes to assets, access, and activities.

However, we do not use the code post-livelihoods if we have a livelihoods code that provides

more specific information. For example, if the case notes that the resettled lost access to the river

where they used to fish, we code this as decreased fisheries access, but we do not code this under

post-livelihoods. Therefore, from the code book, we have a collection of codes to be used for

specific ways livelihoods change and an overall code for livelihoods changes that is used when a

more precise code does not fit. Table 1 lists each of these codes, their definitions, and how they

are measured. For my analysis, I pooled together certain codes to gain a more comprehensive

understanding of how the resettled’s livelihoods changed. This will be explained more fully in

the discussion section.

Table 1. Livelihoods codes used for analysis

Variable Definition Measurement

Natural Capital How natural capital has changed which can include fish increased/decreased/
stocks, land, crops cultivated, etc. post resettlement. stayed the same
Post fish quantity How fish quantity/levels changed post resettlement increased/decreased/
stayed the same
Post natural How forest products changed post resettlement. Not coded increased/decreased/
products quantity when authors are referring to fisheries. stayed the same
Post water quality How water quality has change post resettlement. increased/decreased/
stayed the same
Post soil How soil quality changed post resettlement. increased/decreased/
stayed the same
Post crop yield How crop yield changed post resettlement. increased/decreased/
stayed the same
Post livestock Whether the amount of livestock that people own changed increased/decreased/
amount post resettlement. stayed the same
Post crops If crop species grown changed post resettlement. yes/no
Post livestock If livestock species that people own changed post yes/no
resettlement.
Post livelihoods If livelihoods changed post-resettlement (assets, access, yes/no
activities). Only used when there is not a more specific
livelihoods code that fits better.
Post fisheries How access (distance, physical barriers, loss of equipment, increased/decreased/
access etc.) to fisheries changed post resettlement. stayed the same
Post natural areas How access (distance, physical barriers, loss of equipment, increased/decreased/
and natural etc.) to natural areas and natural products changed post stayed the same
products access resettlement.

30
Table 1. (cont’d)

Post food access If access to food changed (for example if t used to plant their yes/no
food but now must buy food from a store, etc.) post
resettlement.
Post food security How food security changed post resettlement. increased/decreased/
stayed the same
Physical capital If authors say physical capital has changed such as increased/decreased/
agricultural and business equipment, houses, consumer stayed the same
durables, vehicles and transportation, water supply and
sanitation facilities, and communications infrastructure.
Community Compensation given to the community and/or municipality by roads/schools/health
compensation the dam builders. centers/energy/other
Post health access Whether the access to health services changed post increased/decreased/
resettlement. stayed the same
Electricity access If resettled have access to electricity post resettlement. yes/no
after resettlement
Post water access If access (distance, physical barriers, loss of equipment etc.) increased/decreased/
to water changed post resettlement. stayed the same
Human Capital If authors say human capital has changed including people's increased/decreased/
capabilities in terms of their health, labor, education,
knowledge, and skills. stayed the same
Post health How overall health status changed post resettlement. Includes increased/decreased/
mental health. stayed the same
Post status assets If social status (the importance of a person in relation to other yes/no
people within the community) based on assets changed post
resettlement.
Post status prestige If social status based on prestige (person's reputation) changed yes/no
post resettlement.
Post employment Whether access to employment changed post resettlement. increased/decreased/
stayed the same
Information Whether the authors mention that information shared to yes/no
transparency affected communities was incomplete/altered.
Post school Whether the access to schools that people had changed post increased/decreased/
resettlement. stayed the same
Financial capital If authors say financial capital has changed such as savings, increased/decreased/
credit, and inflows. stayed the same
Post income Whether income changed post resettlement (can include increased/decreased/
words like changes in economic/financial security). stayed the same
Post income Whether income inequality changed post resettlement. increased/decreased/
inequality change stayed the same
Social capital How social capital has changed such as membership in increased/decreased/
organizations/groups and social/professional networks. stayed the same
Post community How trust among community members changed post increased/decreased/
trust resettlement. stayed the same
Post family and Whether connections among kin and friends changed post increased/decreased/
friend connections resettlement. stayed the same
Post cultural Whether cultural and community activities changed post increased/decreased/
activities resettlement stayed the same
New site neighbors If resettled were able to continue living close to old neighbors Yes/no

31
4. DISCUSSION

4.1 Overview of cases

My sample for this thesis is 69 studies, which includes 101 cases. As defined earlier, a

study is a published journal article that describes one or more cases in depth. A single study may

have more than one case, and we coded the study for as many times as cases it had. Tables 2 and

3 list the demographics of the sample including dam names, locations, and how many cases there

were per dam. Most of the dams (27) and cases (60) are in Asia, thanks in part to China, which

has 29 cases and 11 dams. Among these, the Three Gorges Dam is the focus of 12 cases. The

second most common country among the cases is Brazil (13 cases and five dams) with Belo

Monte Dam in seven cases, followed by Ghana (12 cases and three dams) with the Bui Dam in

10 cases. My dataset therefore is representative of the distribution of the actual large dams in the

Global South of which Asia has the highest number of dams, followed by Africa and Latin

America, though this may change based on the number of planned dams in Brazil (Global Dam

Watch, 2019). For river basins within my dataset, 11 cases are in the Amazon Basin, 14 are in

the Volta, 14 cases are in the Yangtze, and 24 cases are in the Mekong Basin. Though the

Kamchay Dam in Cambodia featured prominently in our database, its cases could not be used for

this thesis as none of the impacted communities were resettled.

32
Table 2. Dataset dam distribution by country

Global Region Country Number of Number of

dams cases
Africa Ethiopia 2 3
Ghana 3 12
Zambia 1 1
Burkina Faso 1 1
Sudan 1 1
Nigeria 2 2
Lesotho 1 1
Togo 1 1
Asia Malaysia 2 7
Tukey 2 4
China 11 29
Laos 3 5
India 4 7
Vietnam 4 5
Indonesia 1 3
Latin America Brazil 5 13
Colombia 1 1
Panama 2 2
Chile 1 1
Guatemala 1 1
Honduras 1 1

Total: 21 50 101

Table 3. Dam in dataset and distribution among cases

Dam Location Cases

A Luoi Dam Vietnam 1
A Vuong Dam Vietnam 1
Atatürk Dam Turkey 2
Bagré Dam Burkina Faso 1
Bakun Dam Malaysia 6
Bapanxia Dam China 2
Batang Ai Dam Malaysia 1
Belo Monte Dam Brazil 7
Binh Dien Dam Vietnam 1
Bonyic Dam Panama 1
Bui Dam Ghana 10
Chan 75 Hydroelectric Project Panama 1
Chixoy Dam Guatemala 1
Dachaoshan Dam China 1
El Cajón Dam Honduras 1

33
 Table 3. (cont’d)
Foz de Chapecó Hydroelectric Plant Brazil 2
Gangkouwan Reservoir Project China 2
Gibe III Dam Ethiopia 2
Gilgel Gibe-I Dam Ethiopia 1
Hirakud Dam India 1
Ilisu Dam Turkey 2
Kainji Dam Nigeria 1
Kariba Dam Zambia 1
Kpong Dam Ghana 1
Lesotho Highlands Water Project9 Lesotho 1
Liujiaxia Hydrostations China 2
Machadinho Hydroelectric Power Plant Brazil 1
Manwan Dam China 2
Merowe Dam Sudan 1
Nam Theun 2 Dam Laos 3
Nangbeto Dam Togo 1
Nuozhadu Dam China 2
Ralco Hydroelectric Plant Chile 1
Saguling Dam Indonesia 2
Sanmenxia Dam China 2
Sardar Sarovar Dam India 1
Son La Dam Vietnam 2
Teesta Low Dam III India 1
Tehri Dam India 4
Theun-Hinboun Hydropower Project Laos 1
Three Gorges Dam China 12
Tijuco Alto Dam Brazil 1
Tucuruí Dam Brazil 2
Urra Dam Colombia 1
Volta (Akosombo) Dam Ghana 1
Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Complex10 Laos 1
Xiaowan Dam China 1
Xin'anjiang Hydropower Station China 1
Yanguoxia Dam China 2
Zamfara Dam Nigeria 1
Total: 50 21 101

Across these cases, there was a large range between the year(s) the dam was constructed

and became operational and the time the study authors collected their data. I do not have a full

set of data on these timeframes because some authors did not report when their data was

9
This is a complex of different of dams. However, Mwangi (2007) treated this dam complex as a single project, not
as individual dam. The same applies to the way he treated the population impacted by the dam. He did not divide his
study population per dam, but instead treated this population as a single unit impacted by the complex of dams.
10
This is also a dam complex spanning several dams, but Green and Baird (2016) treated this dam complex, and the
population affected by it, as one unit (see footnote 9).

34
collected, while in other cases, dams were under construction for years or even decades, but the

authors did not report what year their study sample was actually resettled. From the data I do

have, the span between dam construction (used as a proxy for the resettlement year) and the

study time was an average of 11 years. The longest spans of time were for the studies on the

Kariba Dam in Zambia and the Hirakud Dam in India, both of which were constructed in the

1950s while the research data were collected in 2004 and 2008, respectively (Crooks, Cliggett, &

Gillett-Netting, 2008; Nayak, 2010). In contrast, the shortest timeframes were for less than a

year. However, most studies were conducted either soon after the dam’s construction was

completed or during the construction phase.

This relatively short time span average belies the fact that in the near or distant future, the

resettled’s outcomes may vastly change for better or for worse. Of the seven longitudinal cases

in my database, only one of which reported on more than one generation post-resettlement

(Crooks et al., 2008), outcomes were mixed for the resettled. How the resettled’s livelihoods are

impacted at just a few years post-resettlement, may greatly change in the coming years.

Scudder’s (2005) Four Stage Framework, which is a predictive theory for successful resettlement

cases (where standard of living increases compared to pre-resettlement levels), takes two

generations; therefore, the shorter average time span of the cases in this dataset may not provide

us with the entire picture for how resettled communities fare long term.

4.2 Overview of changes to livelihoods

Across these studies, livelihoods changed, mostly in negative ways, for the resettled in

the vast majority cases. The resettled faced challenges to maintaining their way of life after dam

construction as assets decreased, access to resources declined, and livelihoods activities

35
deteriorated. Though in some cases capital assets increased (mainly physical capital), the

resettled typically lost assets and access to the means of continuing their livelihoods including

fisheries, the forest, and land to grow crops. In the codebook, 34 codes tracked the myriad ways

the resettled’s livelihoods could change (see Table 1). Figure 3 lists these codes, whether these

means of maintaining a livelihood increased or decreased, and the degree this was so. When both

a positive and negative sign are listed after the code, there was a difference of less than five cases

between an increase to that livelihood activity and a decrease. For example, there were 11 cases

where health access increased and eight cases where it decreased for the resettled so both a plus

and minus sign are listed after “health access.”

The codes listed in Figure 3 are divided among assets, activities and access. These are

grouped within physical, natural, social, financial, and human categories. Each of these five

categories encompass several codes, and within each category is the corresponding capital code

that describes changes to assets. For example, the human capital code within the human category

denotes only when there is a change to a human asset for the resettled. Therefore, human capital

is just one subset of assets within the entire human category which includes assets, activities and

access. Sixteen cases showed declines in human capital alone while there were declines or

negative changes to the human category of livelihoods (which includes the codes for human

capital, social status, health, employment, information transparency, and access to schools) in 52

cases. The distinction between capital and category is important throughout this discussion, and

the five capital codes will be described more fully in this section.

Finally, each item in Figure 3 is one code in our codebook except for the entries, “roads”,

“schools”, “health centers” and “other” (this will be discussed more fully later in this thesis)

which were all sub-codes that we coded within the compensation community code. The entry,

36
“water access,” which is derived from the code post-water access, is listed within both the

physical and natural category of livelihoods. Finally, the code post-livelihoods is included in this

figure under “livelihoods code” as was defined and discussed in the data analysis sub-section and

is included in both the natural and human category. The results of this figure will be more fully

explored throughout this discussion section.

Figure 3. Degree of changes to livelihoods among the resettled

+ less than 10 cases with a positive change

- less than 10 cases with a negative change
+ more than 10 cases with a positive change
- more than 10 cases with a negative change
* codes measured as yes/no, but observations were predominantly negative throughout cases

Figure 4 lists each of the livelihoods codes and shows how often they appeared among

the cases. The left side of the graph denotes a negative change or decrease for the resettled for

37
the code while the right side shows how many cases had a positive change or increase for the

code. These codes are divided among the five livelihoods categories by color. Note that for many

codes, both positive and negative changes were reported.

Figure 4. Impacts to Livelihoods Post Resettlement

Natural capital
Fish quantity
Natural products quantity
Water quality
Soil quality
Crop yield
Livestock amount
Livestock type
Crops type
Livelihoods
Fisheries access
Natural areas access
Food security
Food access
Physical capital
Roads
Schools
Health centers
Other (community comp.)
Health access
Electricity access
Water access
Human capital
Health
Social status (assets)
Social status (reputation)
Employment
Information transparency
Education access
Financial capital
Income
Income inequaility
Social capital
Community trust
Family/friend connections
Cultural activities
Site neighbors
-60 -40 -20 0 20 40
Number of cases with Number of cases with
negative changes positive changes

38
 Figure 5, an aggregation of Figure 4, provides an overview of the number of cases that

had at least one code where the resettled experienced a change within one of the livelihoods

categories. Because the unit of analysis for my thesis is cases (as defined in the methods section),

if a case included as least one instance of a change to a livelihood category, it is included within

Figure 5. For example, one case may list decreases to fisheries access as the only instance of a

negative change to the natural category of livelihoods. Another case may describe decreases to

crop yield, soil quality, and food security as all examples of negative impacts to the natural

category. However, both cases are counted as once within Figure 5 as cases with negative

changes in the natural category of livelihoods. A case could be counted both on the left side of

the graph (showing negative changes) and the right side (showing positive changes) if the case

included instances of both changes. For example, a case may explain that the resettled had

decreased access to natural products but experienced an increase to the quantity of fish that they

caught. Therefore, this case would be included on both the left side and the right side of Figure 5.

This figure highlights just how common negative changes are for the resettled.

Figure 5. Changes within the Livelihoods Categories

Natural

Physical

Human

Financial

Social

-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60

Number of cases with negative changes Number of cases with positive changes

39
 There were decreases to at least one of the five capitals codes in 69 cases, showing that a

reduction in livelihoods assets was a major commonality among the cases. This is especially

startling since each of these capital codes were only used when we did not have a more specific

code to note the ways livelihoods changed. For example, though a decline in soil quality or a

reduction in the amount of fish a family caught are decreases in natural capital, these would be

only coded under post-soil: decrease and post-fish quantity: decrease. They would not be coded

under capital natural: decrease. Each code listed in the “assets” column in Figure 3 is part of

the capital it is grouped with. For example, health and social status are types of human capital,

but we had separate codes denoting each in order to cull more detail from our cases and organize

what was happening to the resettled across cases in a more systematic way. When all the codes

noting a negative change are combined from Figure 3, the resettled experienced a reduction or

disruption to their livelihoods in 90 cases.

4.3 Changes to livelihoods: natural capital and activities

Among all the types of assets, natural capital was the most common capital the resettled

lost. In fact, this was the most used code of any from the codebook in our database. The most

common way natural capital decreased was through the loss of land quantity which occurred in

53 cases. This typically took the form of decreases to land to grow crops or raise livestock. When

compensated, the resettled were often given less land than they had before and/or lost common

property such as forests for hunting and gathering food, fibers, and fuel or grazing areas for

livestock (Aiken & Leigh, 2015; Beck, Claassen, & Hundt, 2012; Faure, 2003). With less

available land, which was often of worse quality, many resettled families faced declines in crop

yield (21 cases) and the amount of livestock they could care for (6 cases). For example, the Son

40
La Dam resettled lost crop output which lead to both lower income and a decrease in dietary

diversity (Bui et al., 2013). In cases when the resettled were able to retain the same amount of

land, soil quality often decreased, which occurred in 31 cases. Loss of land lead to many other

problems including marginalization, loss of income, decreased food security, and environmental

degradation when land is overused (Heggelund, 2006; Huang, Lin, & Li, 2018; Ty, Van Westen

and Zoomers, 2013; Mwangi, 2007).

Regarding access to types of natural capital, resettled lost access to fisheries in 17 cases

and the forest or other natural areas in 15 cases while access to water improved in some cases

and declined in others. Losing access to forests and fisheries had a similar cascading effect as the

impact of losing land. For example, decreased access to forests and fisheries led to reduced

income, decreased food self-sufficiency, and degradation of culture (Hausermann, 2018; Choy,

2004; Siciliano, Urban, Tan-Mullins, & Mohan, 2018). In some cases, this contrasted with what

was promised to the resettled by dam authorities. For example, the Bui Dam resettled were

promised benefits from fishing the newly created reservoir, but the necessary training required to

learn how to fish this new resource never materialized (Yankson et al., 2018). The resettled were

also not giving the needed fishing gear to fish in the lake; therefore, their livelihoods suffered as

they lost access to the fisheries that once supported them (Yankson et al., 2018).

Obour et al. (2016) found that the collapse of the fishing industry post-resettlement

caused changes to cultural practices; for example, a communal fishing festival where fish were

shared with families both in and outside of the community was no longer celebrated. Choy

(2004) noted that the Bakun Dam resettled indigenous community experienced restricted

movement due to forest loss which led to an “erosion of their socio-cultural identity and to a

deprivation of their sources of psychological and spiritual satisfaction” (p. 63). This sentiment

41
was echoed in other cases. Loss of land and access to natural spaces causes problems beyond

those related to land, fisheries, income and food; it can lead to a loss of community identity and

culture (Abrampah, 2017; Hernández-Ruz, Silva, & do Nascimento, 2018).

When changes in livelihoods occur, livelihood activities themselves changed. Post-

livelihoods was the second most frequently used code after capital natural. As mentioned

previously, this code, like the capital codes, was only utilized if there was not a more specific

code to use. Therefore, post-livelihoods noted broader changes to livelihoods. Though, almost all

these changes were couched within the natural category of livelihoods, some changes occurred

within the human category. Therefore, I included this code in both sub-sections. These changes

under the post-livelihoods code can be grouped into three categories, the first two of which are

discussed here while the third is detailed in the human category sub-section of this discussion.

The first occurs when the resettled changed their livelihood activity, such as from farming to

fishing, or when they entirely abandoned the way they made a living (Hernandez-Ruz et al.,

2018; Heggelund, 2016; Asiama, Lengoiboni, & van den Molen, 2017). In almost every instance,

this was not by choice; the resettled were forced to do so due to loss of access to land or fisheries

as discussed previously. Secondly, the livelihoods code was used for changes in scope of

livelihoods activities, such as when a farmer went from growing crops on a large swath of land to

a small plot, and for changes in degree, like if a fisher went from fishing in the river to fishing in

the newly created reservoir.

There were a few cases that reported positive livelihoods changes under this code.

Randell (2017) found that some of the Belo Monte resettled were able to use their compensation

money to switch to more lucrative income generation strategies such as cacao farming and

raising cattle. The Nam Theun 2 Dam resettled reported satisfaction with their resettlement lives

42
and the new access to schools and infrastructure now that they converted from a largely nomadic

lifestyle to an agrarian one (Souksavath & Nakayama, 2013). However, RAP support ended

2014, a year after the study was published, and there was already evidence that the intensive

agriculture practiced by the resettled was quickly depleting the land (Souksavath & Nakayama,

2013). However in most cases, these instances of changes to livelihoods noted in the post-

livelihoods code are framed in the negative with terms such as disruption, suffering, loss,

impoverishment, scarcity, difficulty, and unhappiness used to describe the impacts of the

communities and households forced to give up a large part of what brought them meaning. Aiken

and Leigh (2015) report that the resettled communities at the Bakun Dam were “traumatized by

resettlement and widely forced into cash-based economies for which they were ill prepared” and

“suffered from frayed social relationships, high rates of unemployment and enduring poverty” (p.

85). At the Bui Dam, resettled communities “spoke of depression and anxiety resulting from

resettlement processes and livelihood changes” and their “psychological well-being suffered

tremendously” (Hausermann, 2018, p. 642 and 643). These cases highlight how changes to

livelihoods can lead to mental anguish and social tension; families who may have practiced the

same livelihood for generations are destabilized when forced to abandon their way of life post-

resettlement.

4.4 Changes to livelihoods: physical capital and access to physical assets

Though the resettled’s livelihoods most often changed within the natural category, there

were also changes within the physical category. In fact, of the five livelihoods categories, the

resettled were only able to achieve more increases than decreases in physical capital and access

to physical assets. This usually took place through community compensation by dam

43
concessionaires. This differed from other forms of compensation as it was provided for the

resettled group as a whole instead of given to individual households separately. This type of

compensation was meant to be used communally and could also benefit others when the resettled

were placed within host communities. I found this type of compensation across dam cases in the

countries of Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, India, Ghana, Ethiopia, Zambia, Brazil and Chile. (Choy,

2004; Ty et al., 2013; Virtanen, 2006; Wood, 1993; Hausermann, 2018; Legese, Van Assche,

Stelmacher, Tekleworld, & Kelboro, 2018; Crooks et al., 2008; Leturcq, 2016; González-Parra &

Simon, 2008). Our compensation community code has five categories: roads, schools, health

centers, access to energy, and other. Community compensation was mentioned in 26 cases, and

the most common measure was the provision of schools and access to health facilities.

It was often difficult to tell whether community compensation replaced a community

asset that was lost to the dam or if the compensation provided new infrastructure for the resettled

such as when energy and roads were provided to the resettled in an area that previously lack both

(Obour et al., 2016). Depending on the case, resettled communities were sometimes able to

negotiate this type of compensation. In other cases, the dam authorities decided what the

community would receive, which was sometimes not enough or even useful. For example, at

Three Gorges Dam, the hospitals and schools provided by the government did not fully meet the

needs of the resettled, while at the Bakun Dam, resettlers complained that they had no access to

transportation to make use of the new roads (Wang, Wolf, Lassoie, & Dong, 2013; Choy, 2004).

In other cases, the quality of the infrastructure was mediocre; the Bui Dam resettled pointed out

that the sanitation facilities provided by community compensation measures quickly broke and

were unusable (Urban et al., 2015).

However, in many cases, this was the biggest positive aspect to relocation mentioned by

44
the resettled (Siciliano et al., 2018; Souksavath & Nakayama, 2013). Most of the Nam Theun 2

Dam resettled reported that the resettlement site was “good for their children” because of the

improvements provided by community compensation such as schools, health services, and clean

water (Souksavath & Nakayama, 2013, p. 85). According to interviews conducted with the

Bakun Dam resettled, a big improvement at their new location was the local clinic. It is now

much safer for women to give birth because they are attended by medical professionals; pre-

resettlement, women gave birth at home or spent hours on a boat to get to a clinic (Siciliano et

al., 2018).

The category other under compensation community included myriads forms of

compensation such as storehouses for food and seeds, help in patrolling reserve boundaries,

vehicles, community centers, libraries, cultural buildings, museums, infrastructure for

telephones, irrigation schemes and boreholes, communal lands and ponds, and parks. Due in part

to this form of compensation, in addition to in-home access to water and electricity, the resettled

were often able to experience increases to physical capital across many cases. This is not to say

that the resettled did not lose physical capital. In some cases, households were compensated with

worse quality houses compared to what they lived in pre-resettlement (Johnston 2010; Mills-

Tettey, 1989). In other cases, the resettled lost fishing and farming equipment to either the initial

reservoir filling or during both planned and unplanned floods caused by dam reservoir releases

(Owusu, Obour, & Nkansah, 2017; Wilmsen, Adjartey, & van Hulten, 2018; Faure, 2013).

4.5 Changes to livelihoods: human capital and activities

In terms of the human category of livelihoods, the only increase reported in the studies

occurred through improved access to schools and education thanks to community compensation

45
measures. However, the resettled faced decreases to the human category in social status (11

cases), human capital in general (16 cases), employment (18 cases), information transparency

(17 cases), and physical and mental health (22 cases). Our capital human code measured changes

to people’s capabilities in terms of their health, labor, education, knowledge and skills (Allison

& Horemans, 2006). Like social capital, human capital can be difficult to quantify and track.

Instances of decreases of this form of capital among the resettled included communication

problems within host communities, loss of temples, loss of ancestral burial grounds and tombs,

loss of knowledge and skills from migration out of the resettlement site, and a distortion of social

memory (Xi, 2016; Kedia, 2003; Jing, 1999; Green & Baird, 2016; Sovacool & Bulan, 2011;

Abrampah, 2017). As mentioned in the literature review, the one aspect of a community’s

culture that is included in this human category (within human capital) instead of the social

category of livelihoods is tombs, burial grounds, and shrines venerating ancestors.

Loss of burial grounds and tombs was a common way the resettled experienced decreases

to human capital. This loss was framed in the form of an erosion of knowledge; as the resettled

lost connections to physical graves, their remembrance of ancestors and understanding of their

past diminished. For example, at the Bui Dam, the resettled lost ties to their former landscape

which included shrines venerating the dead and cemeteries. This led to social upheaval as, “the

destruction of both sacred and secular spaces by the dam waters has permanently changed how

the communities’ history is remembered” (Abrampah, 2017, p. 297). Loss of human capital,

among other livelihoods changes, have led to the resettled feeling “vulnerable and unprotected”

and in some cases caused mass out-migration as the resettled simply “cannot take it anymore”

(González-Parra & Simon, 2008, p. 1781; Sovacool & Bulan, 2011, p. 4853).

The post-livelihoods code is included in this sub-section because of the third way this

46
code was often used (see the sub-section on the natural category of livelihoods for the first two

ways the code was used). Post-livelihoods also denoted when ownership of a profession

changed. This often occurred when households went from owning and farming land to being

sharecroppers or went from a subsistence existence to earning wages under an employer post-

resettlement (Aiken & Leigh, 2015; Green & Baird, 2016; Sunardi, Gunawan, Manatunge, &

Pratiwi, 2013).

The resettled also experienced declines in the human category of livelihoods in the form

of miscommunication and a lack of transparency by dam authorities. The code information

transparency denotes whether dam authorities provided incomplete or altered information to the

communities on topics such as the resettlement process or the construction of the dam. This

code, and the code new site neighbors in the social category of livelihoods, are the only codes

that indicate an event inherent to the resettlement process as compared to the rest of the codes in

Figure 3 which measured a post-resettlement outcome (such as decreased soil quality or

increased access to health clinics). Therefore, the code information transparency highlights an

external factor that can have influence over the other changes within the human category of

livelihoods. This code measured instances of the resettled not given information about the SIA or

RAP, how their compensation was calculated, how they would be resettled, what the government

did with dam revenues, or even when the reservoir would be filled (Asiama et al., 2017; Thomas,

2012; Aiken & Leigh, 2015; Virtanen, 2006; Faure, 2003).

However, out of all the codes measuring changes to the human category of livelihoods

for the resettled, decreases to health were the most common. In fact, increased health problems

are so common among resettled communities that multiple studies focused just on this aspect

(Rosa et al., 2018; Xi, 2016; Kedia, 2003). The list of potential health issues is long and

47
encompasses both decreases to physical health and mental well-being. In my dataset, I found

increases in chronic diseases, infectious and zoonotic diseases, mental illness and diseases

relating to pollution and contamination. Increases to chronic disease rates included increases in

obesity, hypertension, heart disease, alcoholism, drug addiction, malnutrition, and asthma (Bisht,

2009; Rosa et al., 2018; González-Parra & Simon; 2008; Jing, 1997; Kedia, 2003). Infectious

and zoonotic disease included increases in the prevalence of malaria, sexually transmitted

diseases, dengue and typhoid fevers, hookworm, and cholera (Fearnside, 1999; Jackson &

Sleigh, 2018; Kedia, 2003; Owusu et al., 2017). The resettled also have faced acute mercury

contamination and bronchopneumonia from dam construction dust (Fearnside, 1999; Kedia,

2003). In fact, only three cases mentioned increases to human health for the resettled. These

were decreases to child stunting and malnutrition, lower levels of anemia, and access to safer

childbirth (Crooks et al., 2008; Erlanger et al.,2008; Siciliano et al., 2018)

There were also many cases that reported decreases in mental health. This ran the gamut

from anxiety, depression, stress, and other psychological disturbances (Aiken & Leigh, 2015;

Rosa et al., 2018; Hausermann, 2018; Hwang, Xi, Cao, Feng, & Qiao, 2007: Xi, 2016). In their

study at the Foz de Chapecó hydroelectric plant, Rosa et al. (2018) provide damning evidence for

the mental anguish brought on by resettlement. They quoted resettled respondents as saying, “we

were upset and stressed in every imaginable way,” “we cried a lot because of it all,” and, “I went

off into the woods to kill myself because I did not want to live here.” (Rosa et al., 2018, p. 6-7).

4.6 Changes to livelihoods: the financial category of livelihoods

The resettled experienced decreases in financial capital. This manifested itself in three

ways: 1) financial capital as measured by savings, credit, and inflows (decreased in 23 cases); 2)

48
income (decreased in 22 cases); and 3) income inequality (increased in three cases and decreased

in three cases). In general, the resettled reported that their economic conditions worsened, their

debt increased, and they were more reliant on government subsidies or remittances from families

who had out-migrated post-resettlement (Akça et al., 2013; Bisht, 2009; Wilmsen & van Hulten,

2017; Tilt & Gerkey, 2016). This was especially startling because in 46 cases, the resettled

received cash compensation for their lost assets. However, this money was often not enough to

allow the resettled to replace that which was lost (Akça, et al., 2013; Nayak, 2010; Nakayama,

1998). In other cases, the cash was mismanaged because though it was given in one lump sum,

the resettled were not accustomed to handling large amount of money (Aiken & Leigh, 2015;

Mills-Tettey, 1989), and they did not receive any advice in how to invest or save the money. In

some cases, the case was only given to community leaders or the male heads of households

(Bermann, 2007; Fearnside, 1999; Bisht, 2009).

Compensation was also sometimes delayed for long periods of time, less than was

originally promised by the dam authorities, or could not cover the purchase of new land as the

value of land skyrocketed during dam construction (Thomas, 2002; Randell, 2016; Jing 1997;

Akça, et al., 2013; Sunardi, et al., 2013). This is not to say that there were some cases where the

resettled received cash compensation that seemed adequate to help them replace lost assets and

begin a new life in their resettlement site (Wang, et al., 2013; Ty, et al., 2012; Obour, et al.,

2016). However, the resettled were typically not satisfied with at least some part of the

compensation amount and process (Jing, 1999; Lee, et al., 2015; Naithani & Saha, 2019).

Therefore, despite cash compensation, the resettled’s financial capital often declined post-

resettlement

A common way financial capital decreased occurred when households, who were once

49
self-sufficient in food production from their land, had to increasingly rely on purchased food to

survive post-resettlement (González-Parra & Simon, 2008; Obour et al., 2016). The second way

the financial category of livelihoods decreased was through a reduction in income. Income

dropped dramatically in several cases as communities lost access to their former means of

survival such a fishing or cultivating cash crops (Beck et al., 2012; Bui et al., 2013; Thomas,

2002). As with every other aspect discussed so far, income is interwoven with other assets and

activities that make up livelihoods, creating a negative feedback loop of diminished opportunity

and capital. For example, among the resettled at the Lesotho Highlands Water Project,

“communal assets have also been severely depleted, thereby threatening human security. The

depletion of fuel resources, wild vegetables and medicinal plants…has not only led to losses in

income, food, and energy, but also to cultural deprivation and a decline in … health standards”

(Mwangi, 2007, p. 15). Finally, income inequality was not often reported on among cases and

was shown to have mixed results. It decreased in three cases and increased in three cases. For

example, Yankson et al. (2018) reported that the wealthy elites connected to the Bui Dam’s

construction grew richer while the poor grew even worse off, while Randell (2016) found that

the gap between rich and poor decreased for the resettled as low-income households gained

access to property, housing, and other assets.

4.7 Changes to livelihoods: social capital and activities

Finally, I will discuss the social category of livelihoods which is a large focus of this

thesis. Social capital and the other assets, activities and access that make up this realm decreased

across the board for the resettled. As mentioned previously, the capital social code is defined as

“the kinship networks, associations, membership organizations and peer-group networks that

50
people can use in difficulties or turn to in order to gain advantage” (Allison & Horemans, 2006,

p.758). Social capital was shown to have decreased in 23 cases. The other codes that showed

decreases in this category include how trust changed among the resettled (2 cases), how cultural

and community activities changed (11 cases), how connections among family and friends

changed (12 cases), and whether the resettled were able to remain near their old neighbors (as

measured by the code new site neighbors11), which did not happen in 9 cases. As discussed in the

human category sub-section, culture is included within the social category of livelihoods. This is

because cultural activities are often a common way that households and individuals within

communities interact with each other and experience social connections.

The loss of social capital (which decreased in 23 cases out of the 23 cases that mentioned

social capital) was often the cause of a litany of compounding issues for resettled communities in

these cases. As households lost connections with other families and the networks that provided

them with shared labor and a sense of community, other assets began to decline. The

communities at the Manwan, Dachaoshan, Xiaowan, and Nuozhadu Dams in China experienced

a decreased exchange of financial resources and agricultural labor post-resettlement; in fact,

resettled households provided labor to one fewer family and give roughly four fewer days of

labor during the previous year (Tilt & Gerkey, 2016). Like many resettled peoples, these

communities already have thin margins in which to make a living. Any reduction in available

labor reduces the chance a crop makes it to market, severely undermining a household’s standard

of living (Tilt & Gerkey, 2016). The Binh Dien Dam resettled reported decreases in close

relationships, shared labor, and cooperation (Nguyen et al., 2017). Before resettlement, livestock

11
As mentioned in the human category of livelihoods sub-section, this code indicates an event inherent to the
resettlement process while the rest of the codes in Figure 3 (other than information transparency) measure a post-
resettlement outcome. New site neighbors therefore highlights an external factor that can have influence over the
other changes within this social category of livelihoods.

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and seeds were readily shared among households. However, due to loss of income and because

they were compensated with inadequate land for farming, resettled households focused on

finding other sources of income instead of maintaining social connections and cooperating

during agricultural production (Nguyen et al., 2017). At the Bakun Dam, decreased social capital

created a cascading host of problems for the resettled: “as family, kin and community networks

unraveled, powerlessness, dependency and vulnerability increased, generally resulting in

downward socio-economic mobility” (Aiken & Leigh, 2015, p. 84).

In some cases, a loss of social capital was felt most acutely by women as access to

networks for labor sharing, social obligations and friendship were eroded (Bisht, 2009;

González-Parra & Simon, 2008). The resettled women at the Tehri Dam were restricted from

many social activities and in some cases from even leaving their homes (Bisht, 2009). Because

communities were resettled into an area with a more conservative culture, the traditional system

of labor exchange among women largely disappeared (Bisht, 2009). Through these limits placed

on women’s social spaces, support systems and social networks declined (Bisht, 2009).

Throughout these cases, declines in social capital have led to increases in conflict and ethnic

tension, decreases in mental health, and loss of culture (Heggelund, 2006; Wilmsen et al., 2018;

Xi, 2016; Choy, 2004). González-Parra and Simon (2008) summed up these issues succinctly;

though they were referring to the Ralco Dam resettled community, they could be writing about

many post-resettlement cases: “the community is only formally a community without the social

relations required for an adequate community life” (p. 1786).

Like social capital, other assets, activities, and access to both that make up the social

realm of livelihoods have decreased. Also, as with social capital, decreases in community trust

(shown in two cases) and connections with others (decreased in 12 cases) snowballed into other

52
problems, exacerbating issues and contributing to a worsening quality of life. As elucidated by

Bebbington (1999), this matches the depiction of social capital as the foundation of all other

aspects of livelihoods. As discussed in the literature review, people’s livelihoods are dependent

on and built from social capital. Relationships and connections between community members are

critical for households to access resources, and this access itself (whether it is to fisheries, the

forest, or to education) is the most important resource in building sustainable livelihoods

(Bebbington, 1999). Aiken and Leigh (2015) provided a poignant example of this, bringing to

life Bebbington’s (1999) arguments:

A combination of conditions at the resettlement villages, including unemployment,

poverty, and frayed family and community relationships, contributed to reported cases of

increased idleness, alcoholism, indebtedness and other social problems. As longstanding

and deep-rooted associations with places of historical and cultural value were severed or

weakened and as social support networks came under increasing stress, many resettled

indigenes appear to have suffered from emotional and psychological harm, including

anxiety, despondency, personal insecurity and a sense of lost identity (p. 83).

The resettled’s security, financial stability, and even health decline as social ties and connections

with places of cultural significance were broken.

In 11 cases, the resettled reported declining cultural activities, ceremonies, and customs

after losing places of historical significance and ancestral land to the flooding of the dam (Choy,

2004; Égré & Senécal, 2003; Kleinitz & Näser, 2011). As connections to old land and sacred

spaces were lost, religious practices deteriorated (Wilmsen et al., 2018; Wiejaczka, Piróg,

Tamang, & Prokop, 2018). In some cases, the resettled clashed with the differing cultures and

religions of the host communities, furthering a sense of displacement and alienation for these

53
families (González-Parra & Simon, 2008; Xi, 2016). For example, at the Ralco Dam, the

relationship between the resettled and their neighbors was marked by “mutual distrust”; the host

community identified the resettled, who were indigenous, as “lazy, thieving drunks,” while the

resettled felt that the school’s teachers and health clinic’s staff showed preferential treatment to

the host families (González-Parra & Simon, 2008, p. 1781). At the Three Gorges Dam, 99

percent of the resettled had communication problems because they did not know the host

population’s dialect, 68 percent felt they did not fit in because of different customs, and 32

percent said the host population was “not nice to them”(Xi, 2016, p. 82). Words like “extinct”

and “died” were used by people among resettlement cases to describe how their former culture

disappeared post-resettlement; resettlers bemoaned the loss of traditional ceremonies and

communal gatherings. (Choy, 2004; Naithani & Saha, 2019).

Like cultural activities, connections among family and friends rapidly deteriorated in 12

cases post resettlement; this was exacerbated when households were not relocated near their old

neighbors which occurred in nine cases (Leturcq, 2016; Ty et al., 2013). These connections were

furthered frayed as people migrated to find work that was desperately lacking within their

resettlement sites (Aiken & Leigh, 2015; Loker, 2003). Heggelund (2006) described the

experiences of Three Gorges Dam resettlers that echoed sentiments across other resettlement

cases: “when interaction between families is reduced, resettlers’ obligations towards non-

displaced kinsmen are eroded. When people live among strangers, communication is difficult,

favors are not returned, and conflicts arise easily” (p. 189). Leturcq (2016) was able to quantify

this deterioration among the Machadinho Dam resettled in Brazil; he found that pre-resettlement,

26 households visited other families between six and 10 times per month. After resettlement,

only six families were able to visit others six to 10 times per month (Leturcq, 2016).

54
 As both the quantity and quality of connections among the resettled decreased, problems

ricocheted outward as households lost access to labor pools, information networks, and markets.

But most critically, as these connections declined and social capital more broadly deteriorated,

families lost the social support that forms the bedrock of strong friendships and comradery that

makes living in a community both joyful and gratifying. When compounded with the pain and

disruption of forced relocation, in many cases the resettled were set up for disappointment. As

Heggelund (2006) argued, “[dam] authorities need to acknowledge that resettlement has social

costs, that it is problematic for the relocatees when families and friends are split up and when the

ancestral land has to be abandoned” (p.191). Unfortunately, this typically is often not considered

during resettlement planning. Instead, communities are often broken up and shuffled around to

wherever there is space to house them.

Without the networks and connections of their former homes, rebuilding livelihoods

becomes close to impossible as families are forced to fend for themselves without the support of

a community behind them. Abrampah (2017) eloquently summed up the gulf between resettled

people’s former lives and their new lives after displacement, “In short, the resettlement produced

an overarching sense of displacement, social rupture, and loss, and the people of Bui village bear

it all” (p. 299). The Bui village could be a stand in for so many villages and communities across

the cases in this database. From the Amazon Rainforest to the Mekong River Basin to the Volta

in West Africa, resettled peoples have struggled to remake themselves and their livelihoods in

their new homes. With declines in social capital and the other assets, activities and access that

make up a family’s rich and sustaining way of life, the resettled in these cases are often set up for

failure before they can even begin the arduous task of rebuilding their lives in an unfamiliar

place.

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 4.8 Recommendations for research and resettlement plans

Though my research focused on resettled populations, the following recommendations

are relevant for other dam impacted peoples, especially downstream communities. In some ways,

being resettled is the best case scenario for impacted communities because the resettled as least

get some form of compensation. Downstream communities, on the other hand, are often

overlooked and receive little to no compensation despite major changes that can affect their

livelihoods. However, even though resettlement could be considered the “best case scenario” for

dam impacted people, my research shows that outcomes for the resettled are still often negative.

This highlights the fact that communities living near dams, whether upstream, downstream or

right at the dam site, rarely fare well after dam construction.

I recommend that future research surveys populations both before resettlement and after

so that we have a better understanding of how the lives and livelihoods of the resettled change.

Currently, most research relies on the resettled to remember their way of life before their

relocation. This mode of research increases the risk of recall bias whereby the study population’s

recollections of the past are misremembered or skewed. Well-designed pre and post surveys

would provide us with a more accurate gauge of post-resettlement changes and disruptions. I also

recommend that future research follows communities at resettlement sites more than one

generation post-resettlement. Perhaps with more time, the ability of the resettled to develop new

livelihood strategies becomes more common. Though this research, we could develop a better

understanding of how livelihoods can be maintained or adapted for resettled communities so that

these practices could be replicated at other dam sites. This research would help answer the

question of what aspects of the RAP are important for ensuring that resettled people can continue

farming, fishing, or conducting the other livelihoods activities and strategies they utilized pre-

56
resettlement.

Finally, I advocate for more interdisciplinary research on resettled populations where

researchers of different expertise and background, such as ecologists, sociologists, psychologists,

economists, and anthropologists, collaborate to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the

impacts to resettled populations. My research has highlighted the myriad ways the resettled may

experience changes from health declines to fisheries decreases to the breakdown of social capital.

A research team composed of multiple disciples has a better chance at being able to capture the

multitude of post-resettlement changes and how these changes interact with each other. In

tandem with this recommendation, I would also advocate for more sharing of research protocols,

such as surveys and other data collection methods, among researchers so that we are better able

to compare social impacts across dams and countries.

4.8.1 Recommendations for future research on social capital changes

In order to fully understand the scope and degree of changes to social capital, I

recommend more researchers ask about these changes when studying and working with post-

resettled communities. Of the 101 cases in this database, only 36 mentioned social capital or one

of the other four codes in the social category of livelihoods. Though it could be true that the

social category of livelihoods was not impacted in 65 cases, I suspect that it would be difficult

for social capital not to be affected in at least some way during the often grueling process of

resettlement. Social capital changes among resettled populations may be undercounted or

understudied for a variety of reasons. Researchers may not have the expertise to ask about these

potential changes, and instead focus on more “tangible” changes to livelihoods such as those

impacting natural, financial or physical capital.

However, understanding social capital changes among the resettled is critical to

57
recognizing the broader scope of how the livelihoods of households and communities have

changed. Social capital is the foundation of livelihoods as it helps manage how households

access other assets and activities (Bebbington, 1999). Therefore, understanding how social

capital changes is the first step to addressing and mitigating negative impacts to other areas in

their lives. Essentially, helping communities to maintain social capital post-resettlement will go a

long way in increasing the chance that they will able to retain their former livelihoods. But

beyond this practical application, ensuring the maintenance of social capital can ease the pain

and trauma of forced relocation and the loss of former land and homes. But first, we need to have

a better understanding of just how social capital, along with the other activities and access that

make up the social category of livelihoods, are impacted by resettlement. I recommend that

researchers report on the following when studying post-resettlement communities:

1. Were the resettled able to continue living by former neighbors?

2. What is the type of resettlement site (intact, communities mixed together,

resettled into a host community, mixed and resettled into a host community, or

scattered throughout multiple site types)?12

3. Did the resettled have any choice about who they lived by?

4. Did the number of groups, networks, and organizations that each resettled

household change after resettlement? How did this change?

5. Have cultural, religious and other community activities changed?

6. How often do the resettled see friends and family compared to pre-resettlement?

7. Has the quality of connections with friends and family changed?

8. Has trust among community members changed?

12
As mentioned in the literature review, only 17 cases were coded for these site types. I argue that this is important
knowledge to have in order to understand how a community’s social capital has changed post-resettlement.

58
 9. Have there been differences in the way men and women are impacted by changes

to social capital?

Finally, I recommended, when possible, that researchers collect data on social capital

both before and after resettlement to prevent recall bias among the participants and provide a

more accurate measure of how social capital changes during the resettlement process.

4.8.2 Recommendations for future resettlement planning

Based on the research in this meta-analysis, dam authorities should prioritize processes

that help maintain the assets, activities and access to these assets and activities that make up the

livelihoods of the resettled. As mentioned previously, many household’s livelihoods are

dependent on social capital, so taking steps to help maintain social capital post-resettlement will

help the resettled preserve their livelihoods overall. As out-migration is a key way communities

lose members which contributes to a decline in social cohesion (Aiken & Leigh, 2015; Owusu et

al., 2017; Loker, 2003), adequate employment and other means to make a living need to be in

place in the resettlement site to reduce the need of out-migration for work. Access to sacred

spaces, shrines, and other important sites to the community are often denied to the resettled or

disappear after the reservoir floods (Abrampah, 2017; Égré & Senécal, 2003). Access should be

maintained as much as possible to allow the resettled to continue practicing cultural and religious

activities; every effort to relocate historical relics and cultural spaces should be made in order to

preserve in some small way the ties the resettled had to the former place of living. As

connections among friends and family can fray post-resettlement (Naithani & Saha, 2019;

Leturcq, 2016), the resettled should have a choice of who they live by, and families and former

neighbors should be resettled together as much as possible. This choice implies that the

resettlement should be given every opportunity to participate in the resettlement planning

59
process. Through consultation and negotiations, the resettled should be given choices each step

of the way in how and with what they will be compensated with, how they will transition, to their

new homes, and what ways they will be able to maintain or adapt their livelihoods. This choice

should be given to as many resettled individuals as possible, not just the household heads or the

leaders of the communities, as has occurred in some resettlement cases (Abbink, 2012; Asiama et

al., 2017). Instead, each resettled adult should have as much information as others to choose how

and where they will be resettled.

Resettlement often leads to the disintegration of professional and social networks, labor

sharing practices, and organization membership (Nguyen et al., 2017; Tilt & Gerkey, 2016; Ty et

al., 2003). It can be difficult for resettled households to contribute to networks and labor pools

when they are struggling to simply stay afloat and concentrate on rebuilding former livelihoods.

By providing adequate compensation including training, agricultural inputs, technology, and

other tools, dam authorities can make it easier for households to quickly re-establish themselves

and focus on rebuilding the networks that sustained their communities pre-resettlement. The

difficulty of resettlement strains social capital at a time it is most critically needed to help

communities recover from the shock of relocation. Dam authorities need to eliminate as many

stressors to social capital as they can in order to ensure the community has the best chance of

thriving post-resettlement. In tandem with this recommendation, I advocate for more robust

monitoring and evaluation of resettlement communities by the dam authorities. This process

should be included and allocated for in the RAP itself so that it does not get overlooked. This

monitoring and evaluation piece could go hand in hand with long term support, where the

resettled are provided with opportunities for job assistance and employment, support for

livelihoods adaptions, and education for the resettled children. This support would grow and

60
adapt based on the changing needs of the resettled as they work to re-establish themselves in

their new homes.

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5. CONCLUSION

Our database is limited by what researchers report through their research questions and

methods. Simply because a study does not mention whether something occurred does not mean

that the resettled did not experience it. Our database also only accounts for research published in

peer reviewed journals in English. Perhaps many authors are publishing in their own languages

or in the languages of the countries where the dams are being constructed so that they can be

more useful for the activists and policy makers there. This is important to keep in mind as a

meta-analysis is limited to both what is reported and what is published in English. Finally,

though our codebook is comprehensive and covers a wide range of experiences and changes the

resettled may face, it is not exhaustive. Resettlement cases vary enormously across time and

regions; there are occasionally rare events and changes that resettled populations face that we do

not have codes for such as wild animal conflict or death by flash flood. There are therefore

events the resettled experienced that may not be captured during our coding process.

However, I am confident that our codebook captures many of the intricacies of the

resettled experience, especially changes to livelihoods. The meta-analysis provides us with a

good understanding of what is happening within the resettled communities since it captures

patterns and trends across many cases from around the world. I, together with the other

researchers on this study, plan to publish a paper from this thesis with the hope of more research

and published papers in the future from the database we created. Though the meta-analysis for

this thesis covers 69 studies, the other researchers in the team will expand the analysis to include

all 146 studies in the database. From this, we hope to provide further evidence of which factors

during resettlement are associated with changes to livelihoods and answer other research

questions.

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 Resettled communities are often not able to maintain their livelihoods and social capital.

Instead, they are thrown into communities where their neighbors are strangers, they lose

connection to the fisheries and land they once farmed, they are compensated far less than their

lost assets were worth, and they are largely forgotten as countries focus instead on increasing

energy sources for their urban populations. These trends have left millions of people around the

globe impoverished, displaced, and disconnected from their homes and communities. Indian

Prime Minister Nehru, when speaking in 1948 to the displaced communities at the Hirukud Dam

exclaimed, “If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of your country” (Roy, 1999).

Tilt et al. (2009) argued that “the impacted population [resettled people] effectively subsidizes …

international development” (p. 251). Today, resettled communities around the world are indeed

effectively subsidizing their country or the region’s development when they are pushed aside

during dam construction and the resettlement process. In fact, as Chinese firms have grown to be

the largest builders and funders of dams today with roughly 380 large dams in more than 70

countries planned for, under construction, or operating, dam impacted communities are now

more than ever subsidizing regional development (Siciliano, Del Bene, Scheidel, Lui, & Urban,

2019). Chinese firms package together aid, trade and investment while maintaining a laissez-

faire policy of not requiring many political, environmental or social conditions of the dam host

country (Siciliano et al., 2019). These trends have led to myriad environmental justice concerns

such as building dams in ecologically fragile areas, unfair distribution of energy, little

transparency and accountability for the builders, and conflict as local cultures and values are

ignored (Siciliano et al., 2019).

But these trends do not have to continue. In a radical reversal of the current system where

the resettled subsidizes the region’s development, those that receive the dam produced energy

63
could subsidize the resettled instead. If the communities and industries that utilize the dam’s

electricity paid for its true cost, they would pay to effectively compensate the resettled so that

they could retain their livelihoods and thrive in their new homes. As large dam construction

booms in the Global South, improving the resettlement and compensation processes will ensure

that communities will no longer be dismissed as the inevitable casualties of development and

relegated to impoverishment. Instead, they will be looked upon as partners in the resettlement

process where their lives and livelihoods are treated with the dignity and respect deserved by all.

64
APPENDICES

65
 APPENDIX A

Database studies included in this thesis

(cases per study in parenthesis)

Abbink, J. (2012). Dam controversies: Contested governance and developmental discourse on

the Ethiopian Omo River dam. Social Anthropology, 20(2), 125–144. (1 case)

Abrampah, D. A. M. (2017). Strangers on their own land: Examining community identity and
social memory of relocated communities in the area of the Bui Dam in West-central Ghana.
Human Organization, 76(4), 291–303. (1 case)

Aiken, S. R., & Leigh, C. H. (2015). Dams and indigenous peoples in Malaysia: Development,
displacement and resettlement. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 97(1),
69–93. (2 cases)

Akça, E., Fujikura, R., & Sabbağ, Ç. (2013). Atatürk Dam resettlement process: Increased
disparity resulting from insufficient financial compensation. International Journal of Water
Resources Development, 29(1), 101–108. (2 cases)

Asiama, K., Lengoiboni, M., & van der Molen, P. (2017). In the land of the dammed: Assessing
governance in resettlement of Ghana’s Bui Dam Project. Land, 6(4), 80. (1 case)

Barrow, C. (1988). The impact of hydroelectric development on the Amazonian environment:

With particular reference to the Tucuruí Project. Journal of Biogeography, 67–78. (1 case)

Beck, M. W., Claassen, A. H., & Hundt, P. J. (2012). Environmental and livelihood impacts of
dams: Common lessons across development gradients that challenge sustainability.
International Journal of River Basin Management, 10(1), 73–92. (2 cases)

Berman, C. (2007). Impasses and controversies of hydroelectricity. Estudos Avançados, 21(59),

139–154. (1 case)

Bisht, T. C. (2009). Development-induced displacement and women: The case of the Tehri Dam,
India. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 10(4), 301–317. (1 case)

Bui, T. M. H., Schreinemachers, P., & Berger, T. (2013). Hydropower development in Vietnam:
Involuntary resettlement and factors enabling rehabilitation. Land Use Policy, 31, 536–544.
(1 case)

Choy, Y. K. (2004). Sustainable development and the social and cultural impact of a dam-
induced development strategy: the Bakun experience. Pacific Affairs, 77(1), 3,50-68. (1
case)

66
Crooks, D. L., Cliggett, L., & Gillett-Netting, R. (2008). Migration following resettlement of the
Gwembe Tonga of Zambia: The consequences for children’s growth. Ecology of Food and
Nutrition, 47(4), 363–381. (1 case)

Égré, D., & Senécal, P. (2003). Social impact assessments of large dams throughout the world:
Lessons learned over two decades. Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 21(3), 215–
224. (3 cases)

Erlanger, T. E., Sayasone, S., Krieger, G. R., Kaul, S., Sananikhom, P., Tanner, M., Odermatt, P.
& Utzinger, J. (2008). Baseline health situation of communities affected by the Nam Theun
2 hydroelectric project in central Lao PDR and indicators for monitoring. International
Journal of Environmental Health Research, 18(3), 223–242. (1 case)

Faure, A. (2003). Improving public information about large hydroelectric dams: Case studies in
France and West Africa. In Natural resources forum (Vol. 27, pp. 32–41). Wiley Online
Library. (1 case)

Fearnside, P. M. (1999). Social impacts of Brazil’s Tucuruí dam. Environmental Management,

24(4), 483–495. (1 case)

Finley-Brook, M., & Thomas, C. (2011). Renewable energy and human rights violations:
Illustrative cases from indigenous territories in Panama. Annals of the Association of
American Geographers, 101(4), 863–872. (2 cases)

Fratkin, E. (2014). Ethiopia’s pastoralist policies: Development, displacement and resettlement.

Nomadic Peoples, 18(1), 94–114. (1 case)

González-Parra, C., & Simon, J. (2008). All that glitters is not gold: Resettlement, vulnerability,
and social exclusion in the Pehuenche community Ayin Mapu, Chile. American Behavioral
Scientist, 51(12), 1774–1789. (1 case)

Green, W. N., & Baird, I. G. (2016). Capitalizing on compensation: Hydropower resettlement

and the commodification and decommodification of nature-society relations in Southern
Laos. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106(4), 853–873. (1 case)

Habich, S. (2015). Strategies of soft coercion in Chinese dam resettlement. Issues and Studies,
51(1), 165–199. (1 case)

Hall, A., & Branford, S. (2012). Development, dams and Dilma: The saga of Belo Monte.
Critical Sociology, 38(6), 851–862. (1 case)

Hausermann, H. (2018). “Ghana must Progress, but we are Really Suffering”: Bui Dam,
antipolitics development, and the livelihood implications for rural people. Society and
Natural Resources, 31(6), 633–648. (2 cases)

67
Heggelund, G. (2006). Resettlement programmes and environmental capacity in the Three
Gorges Dam Project. Development and Change, 37(1), 179–199. (1 case)

Hernández-Ruz, E., Silva, R., & do Nascimento, G. (2018). Impacts of the construction of the
Belo Monte Hydroelectric Power Plant on traditional knowledge of riverine communities
in Xingu River, Pará, Brazil. International Journal of Research Studies in Biosciences,
6(6), 13-20. (1 case)

Huang, Y., Lin, W., Li, S., & Ning, Y. (2018). social impacts of dam-induced displacement and
resettlement: A comparative case study in China. Sustainability, 10(11), 4018. (2 cases)

Hwang, S.-S., Xi, J., Cao, Y., Feng, X., & Qiao, X. (2007). Anticipation of migration and
psychological stress and the Three Gorges Dam project, China. Social Science & Medicine,
65(5), 1012–1024. (1 case)

Jackson, S., & Sleigh, A. (2000). Resettlement for China’s Three Gorges Dam: Socio-economic
impact and institutional tensions. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 33(2), 223–241.
(1 case)

Jing, J. (1999). Villages dammed, villages repossessed: A Memorial movement in northwest

China. American Ethnologist, 26(2), 324–343. (3 cases)

Jing, J. (1997). Rural resettlement: past lessons for the Three Gorges project. China Journal,
38(38), 65–92. (6 cases)

Johnston, B. R. (2010). Chixoy dam legacies: The struggle to secure reparation and the right to
remedy in Guatemala. Water Alternatives, 3(2), 341. (1 case)

Kedia, S. (2003). Assessing and mitigating the health impacts of involuntary resettlement: The
Tehri hydroelectric dam project. Advances in Science and Technology of Water Resources,
23, 65–68. (1 case)

Kleinitz, C., & Näser, C. (2011). The loss of innocence: Political and ethical dimensions of the
Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Project at the Fourth Nile Cataract (Sudan).
Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 13(2–3), 253–280. (1 case)

Lee, W. C., Viswanathan, K. K., & Ali, J. (2015). Compensation policy in a large development
project: The case of the Bakun hydroelectric dam. International Journal of Water Resources
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 APPENDIX B

Table 4. Modified Codebook

Code Definition How to Measure Rules

Total cost of dam construction It is preferable to code the cost of the dam (amount) in US
mentioned by authors. With the dollars. But if the authors just indicate the amount in a
reference of the year (beginning of different currency, please code the number and the currency
the project, at the end, or the the first time that authors mentioned in the paper the cost of
Cost publication year) Millions of dollars the dam, including the abstract.
Code the name of the dam builders just the first time that
Dam Builder Name of who built the dam Name the authors mentioned in the paper, including the abstract.
Code the word(s) describing if the dam is part of a
Whether the dam is part of a Yes complex. Please code the first time that authors refer to it,
Dam Complex complex of nearby dams No including the abstract
Dam Code the year when the dam construction ended. Please
Construction end Year for dam construction code just the first time that authors refer to it, including the
date completion Year abstract
Dam Code the year when the dam construction began. Please
Construction code just the first time that authors refer to it, including the
start date Year for dam construction start Year abstract
Code the country where the dam is located. Please code just
Dam Location the first time that authors refer to it, including the abstract.
Country The country the dam is in Name Do not code if it appears in the title.
Code the name of the dam. Please code just the first time
that authors refer to it, including the abstract. Do not code if
Dam Name Name of the dam Name it appears in the title.
Code the number and the units that refers to the power
Dam Power How much power the dam generates Power units output of the dam. Please code just the first time that
output or will generate per year authors refer to it, including the abstract
Code the name of the basin. Please code just the first time
that authors refer to it, including the abstract. Only code
Dam River Basin The river basin the dam is in Name this if the authors use the word river or basin.

72
Table 4. (cont’d)
planning Code the sentence that describes the stage of construction
Stage of dam construction during construction of the dam. Please code just the first time that authors refer
Dam Stage research operation to it, including the abstract
Investor Nationality of investor that funded Code the name of the investor country. Please code just the
Nationality the dam Country first time that authors refer to it, including the abstract
Code the sentence describing that the World Bank funded
Investor World If the World Bank helped to fund the Yes the dam. Please code just the first time that authors refer to
Bank dam construction No it, including the abstract
Please code the number (exact number) of actual people or
households. Please code the first time that authors refer to
Resettled actual Number of people or households Number of people it, including the abstract. Code the number and if they are
number actually resettled Number households talking about people or households.
Please code the number (exact number) of planned people
or households resettled. Please code just the first time that
Resettled Number of people or households that Number of people authors refer to it, including the abstract. Code the number
planned number are planned to be resettled Number households and if they are talking about people or households.
Please code the sentences that describe the
Compensation Recommendations for compensation recommendations made by the authors regarding
recommendations made by the author(s) Description compensation. Code only clearly stated recommendations.
Please code the sentences that describe the
Resettlement Recommendations for resettlement recommendations made by the authors regarding
recommendations made by the author(s) Description resettlement. Code only clearly stated recommendations.
Compensation
Classification of the paper for the Resettlement Please code the whole title of the paper, indicating whether
Study focus meta-analysis Both the paper focus is resettlement, compensation or both.
Please code the sentence that describes that the study was
Study Whether the study covers more than longitudinal. Please code just the first time that authors
Longitudinal one time period Description refer to it, including the abstract
Study For longitudinal studies: the span of
Longitudinal time between the first and the last Code the year of the first data collection and the year of the
timeframe date for data collection. Year(s) last data collection.
Please code the sentence describing how the authors kept
Study track of their sample in longitudinal studies. Please code
Longitudinal How researchers kept track of their just the first time that authors refer to it, including the
sample track population for longitudinal studies Description abstract

73
Table 4. (cont’d)
Case study
Large n
Comparative case study Please code the type of study that the researchers
Study Type Description of the study n other conducted.
If the study covers resettlement Please code the sentence describing if the study is
Study Multiple and/or compensation for more than Yes researching more than one dam. Please code just the first
dams one dam No time that authors refer to it, including the abstract
Number of (whatever the unit of # of whatever the unit of Please code the number of people who participated in the
analysis is such as people or analysis is. research. Please code just the first time that authors refer to
Study number of households) that participated in the e.g. # people, or # it, including the abstract. Indicate the number and the way
participants study households that they participated.
Indigenous
Riverine Please code the sentence describing the population focus of
Campesinos/Peasants the study. Please code just the first time that authors refer
Study population The population focus of the study Other to it, including the abstract
Theory used by researchers to guide Code the name of the theoretical framework(s) used in the
Study framework their study and methods Name study.
Code the year when the study was conducted. Please code
just the first time that authors refer to it, including the
When information was collected for abstract. Do not use this code when the study is
Study time study Year(s) longitudinal.
individual
household/families Please code the word describing the unit of analysis. If they
Study Unit of community mention household heads its individual. Please code just
analysis Type of group being studied Other the first time that authors refer to it, including the abstract
People resettled due to dam
People compensated due to
dam
Host communities
Dam authorities
Government actors Code the sentence describing the type of participants.
Type of The type of people that participated NGO's actors Please code just the first time that authors refer to it,
participants in the study Other including the abstract

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Table 4. (cont’d)
Code the sentence that describe any kind of competition
Competition between the affected between affected and outside immigrants. Please do not
and immigrants to the area affected Yes code conflict between host communities and resettled
Immigrants by dam construction No communities.
Due to pre-resettlement and pre-
compensation characteristics (such
as status, livelihoods, legal land
ownership, demographics, etc.),
affected communities have different Yes Code the sentence describing the different opportunities
new site type opportunities No that people have due to characteristics.
Code the sentence describing the change in the access of
Whether access to employment Increased employment. It could also be a number or a percentage.
Post changed after resettlement and/or Decreased Please be careful, if it is a percentage, code the number in a
Employment compensation Stayed the same way that we are going to be able to analyze.
Whether income changed post Code the sentence describing the change in income. this can
resettlement and/or compensation Increased be a number or a percentage. Please be careful if it is a
(can include words like changes in Decreased percentage code the number in a way that we are going to
Post Income economic/financial security) Stayed the same analyze.
Code the sentence describing the change in income
Whether income inequality changed Increased inequality. this can be a number or a percentage. Please be
Post Income post resettlement and/or Decreased careful if it is a percentage code the number in a way that
inequality change compensation Stayed the same we are going to analyze.
If livelihoods changed post-
resettlement and/or compensation
(fishing, farming, or other).
Livelihoods are partially
subsistence, not fully focused on
generating income but also for Yes Code the sentence describing if livelihoods changed post
Post Livelihoods survival. No resettlement or compensation
If the authors said their standard of Increased Code the sentence describing a change in people's standard
Post Standard of living changed post-resettlement Decreased of living. Use this code just when the author mentions a
living and/or compensation Stayed the same change in standard of living.
If there were unexpected benefits to
the economy in the local area or at Local: Yes; No Code the sentence describing the benefits in the region due
Benefits national level due to the dam National: Yes; No to the dam construction

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Table 4. (cont’d)
If there were unexpected problems
to the economy in the local area or at Local: Yes; No Code the sentence describing the problems in the region
Problems national level due to the dam National: Yes; No due to the dam
Whether the affected were given
Compensation choice of how/what they would be Yes Code the sentence describing if participants were given
choice compensated with No choice of how and what they would be compensated.
Whether the affected were consulted
and/or informed during the process
about compensation. Consultation
refers to "being asked an opinion in
Compensation specific matters without guarantee of
consultation and influencing decisions" (Agarwal, Yes Code the sentence describing if affected people were
info 2001; p1624) No consulted
If the affected people's expectations
Compensation of compensation were different than
expectations what they received. In this case they Yes Code the sentence describing that people got better things
positive got better things that they expected. No than expected
If the affected people's expectations
Compensation of compensation were different than
expectations what they received. In this case they Yes Code the sentence describing that people got worse things
negative got worst things that they expected. No than expected
If the affected participated in
compensation planning and process
Compensation (used when authors don't give details Yes Code the sentence describing if affected people were able to
participation about HOW they participated) No participate in the planning and process of compensation.
Compensation If affected people were able to Yes Code the sentence describing if affected people were able to
negotiation negotiate on compensation No negotiate the compensation.

Whether the authors mention that

Information information shared to affected Yes Code the sentence describing the presence or lack of
transparency communities was incomplete/altered No transparency of information
If the affected participated in
decisions after they have been
resettled/compensated (already
resettled/compensated, but decisions Yes Code the sentence describing if affected participate in
Post participation on this process continue) No decisions after the resettlement/compensation process

76
Table 4. (cont’d)
Resettlement If resettled were given choice of Yes Code the sentence that describes if participants were given
choice how/where to resettle No choices of how/where to resettle
If resettled were able to negotiate on
resettlement. Affected people were
Resettlement able to give ideas about their Yes Code the sentence describing if people resettled was able to
negotiations resettlement No negotiate the resettlement
If the affected people's expectations
Resettlement of resettlement were different than
expectations what they received. In this case they Yes Code the sentence describing that people got better things
positive got better things that they expected. No than expected
If the affected people's expectations
Resettlement of resettlement were different than
expectations what they received. In this case they Yes Code the sentence describing that people got worse things
negative got worst things that they expected. No than expected
If resettled were informed and/or
consulted during the resettlement
process about resettlement.
Consultation refers to "being asked
Resettlement an opinion in specific matters
consultation and without guarantee of influencing Yes
info decisions" (Agarwal, 2001; p1624) No Code the sentences describing if resettled were consulted
If there was a delay between when
Resettlement resettlement was supposed to happen Yes
delay and when it happened No Code the sentence describing the time delay of resettlement

If the resettled participated in

resettlement planning and process
Resettlement (used when authors don't give details Yes Code the sentence describing if resettlers participate in
participation about HOW they participated) No decisions after the resettlement process
If authors say human capital has
changed. Human Capital: people's
capabilities in terms of their health, Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
labor, education, knowledge, skills Decreased numbers describing the increase, decrease of human capital.
Capital Human (Allison, et al., 2006) Stayed the same and/or code sentences describing it.

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Table 4. (cont’d)
If authors say natural capital has
changed. Natural Capital: fish Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
stocks, land owned, crops cultivated, Decreased numbers describing the increase, decrease of natural capital.
Capital Natural etc. (Allison et al., 2006) Stayed the same and/or code sentences describing it.
If authors say financial capital has Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
changed such as Savings, credit, and Decreased numbers describing the increase, decrease of financial
Capital Financial inflows Stayed the same capital. and/or code sentences describing it.
If authors say physical capital has
changed such as agricultural and
business equipment, houses,
consumer durables, vehicles and
transportation, water supply and
sanitation facilities, and
communications infrastructure Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
(Allison & Ellis, 2001; Meizen-Dick Decreased the sentence describing the increase, decrease of physical
Capital Physical et al., 2014) Stayed the same capital.
If authors say social capital has
changed such as membership in
organizations and groups, social and
professional networks. (Allison & Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
Ellis, 2001; Meizen-Dick et al., Decreased the sentence describing the increase, decrease of social
Capital Social 2014) Stayed the same capital.
Whether trust among community Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
Post Community members changed post-resettlement Decreased the sentence describing the increase, decrease of
trust and/or compensation Stayed the same community trust.
Whether cultural and community Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
Post Cultural activities changed post-resettlement Decreased the sentence describing the increase, decrease of cultural
activities and/or compensation Stayed the same activities
Post family and Whether connections with relatives Increased Depending on the information provided by the authors code
friend and friends changed post Decreased the sentence describing the increase, decrease of family and
connections resettlement and/or compensation Stayed the same friends connections
If social status (the importance of a
person in relation to other people
within the community) based on
assets changed post resettlement Yes Depending on the information provided by the authors code
Post Status assets and/or compensation No the sentence describing if social status changed

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Table 4. (cont’d)
If social status based on prestige
Post Status (person's reputation) changed post Yes Depending on the information provided by the authors code
prestige resettlement and/or compensation No the sentence describing if social status prestige changed
Electricity access If resettled and/or compensated had Yes Code the sentence describing if people had access to
before access to electricity before No electricity before the resettlement or compensation
If resettled and/or compensated have
Electricity access access to electricity after the Yes Code the sentence describing if people got access to
after resettlement resettlement No electricity after being resettled.
Whether the resettled or
Energy bills compensated had energy bills before Yes Code the sentence describing if people had or not energy
before resettlement No bills before resettlement or compensation
If the resettled and/or compensated
had energy bills before, how Increased Code the change in electricity bills this can be a number,
electricity bills changed post- Decreased percentage or a sentence. If percentage remember to code in
Energy bills now resettlement and/or compensation Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage
Rural to Rural
rural to urban
Resettled site type before and Urban to Urban
New site type resettled site type after urban to rural Code the sentence describing the change of site of resettlers
If the way people cooked changed
post resettlement and/or Yes Code the sentence describing any change or not in cooking
Post Cooking compensation No types
Increased Code the sentence describing the change in yield. This can
How much crop yield changed post Decreased also be presented in numbers or percentages. Remember to
Post Crop yield resettlement and/or compensation Stayed the same code the necessary information in case of percentages
If crop species grown changed post Yes
Post Crops resettlement and/or compensation No Code the sentence describing change of crop species.

Increased Code the change in soil quality. This can be a number,

How soil quality changed post Decreased percentage or a sentence. If percentage remember to code in
Post Soil resettlement and/or compensation Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage

79
Table 4. (cont’d)

If access food changed (for example

if they used to plant their food but
now must buy food from a store,
etc.) post resettlement and/or
compensation. Food access is
defined by the ability of individuals
to obtain adequate resources,
including traditional entitlements to
acquiring appropriate foods for a Yes
Post Food access nutritious diet. (FAO, 2006). No Code the sentence describing a change in food access
How food security changed post
resettlement and/or compensation.
"Food security exists when all
people, at all times, have physical
and economic access to sufficient,
safe and nutritious food that meets
their dietary needs and food Increased Code the change in food security. This can be a number,
Post Food preferences for an active and healthy Decreased percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember to code in
security life” (FAO, 2006). Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage
How fish quantity/levels changed Increased Code the change in fish quantity. This can be a number,
Post Fish post resettlement and/or Decreased percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember to code in
quantity compensation Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage
If access (distance, physical barriers,
loss of equipment etc.) to fisheries Increased Code the change in fisheries access. This can be a number,
Post Fisheries changed post resettlement and/or Decreased percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember to code in
access compensation Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage
How forest products changed post Code for the change in the quantity of forest products after
resettlement and or compensation. Increased resettlement or compensation. If percentage remember to
Post natural Do not code when authors are Decreased code in a way that we will know afterwards that was a
products quantity referring to fisheries Stayed the same percentage

80
Table 4. (cont’d)
If access (distance, physical barriers,
loss of equipment etc.) to natural
areas and natural products changed Code the change in forest products access. This can be a
Post natural areas post resettlement and/or Increased number, percentage or a sentence. If percentage remember
and natural compensation. Do not code when Decreased to code in a way that we will know afterwards that was a
products access authors are referring to fisheries Stayed the same percentage.
Code for the change in the quality of water after
Increased resettlement or compensation. If percentage remember to
Post water How water quality has change post Decreased code in a way that we will know afterwards that was a
quality resettlement and or compensation. Stayed the same percentage
If access (distance, physical barriers,
loss of equipment etc.) to water Increased Code the change in water access. This can be a number,
changed post resettlement and/or Decreased percentage or a sentence. If percentage remember to code in
Post water access compensation Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage.
How overall health status changed
post resettlement and/or Increased Code the change in health status. This can be a number,
compensation. Includes mental Decreased percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember to code in
Post Health health. Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage
Whether the access to health Increased Code the change in health access. This can be a number,
Post health services changed post resettlement Decreased percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember to code in
access and/or compensation Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage
If home types (construction)
changed post resettlement and/or Yes Code the sentence describing a change in house
Post House compensation No construction. Please focus on household materials.
If livestock species that people own
changed after resettlement and/or Yes Code the sentence describing if the species that people own
Post Livestock compensation No changed after the resettlement and compensation
Code the change in livestock amount. This can be a
Whether the amount of livestock that Increased number, percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember
Post livestock people own changed after Decreased to code in a way that we will know afterwards that was a
amount resettlement and/or compensation Stayed the same percentage

Whether the access to schools that Increased Code the change in school access. This can be a number,
people had changed after Decreased percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember to code in
Post School resettlement and/or compensation Stayed the same a way that we will know afterwards that was a percentage

81
Table 4. (cont’d)
If the way people access to Increased
sanitation changed post resettlement Decreased Code the sentence describing if there was a change in
Post Sanitation and/or compensation Stayed the same sanitation. Include solid waste, garbage, among others
Resettlement If resettled were satisfied with their Yes
satisfaction post-resettlement life No Code sentences portraying the satisfaction of resettlers
Men are more impacted than
If resettlement or compensation women Code sentences that portrays the differences among men
effects differ among men and Women are more impacted and women regarding the effects of resettlement and or
Sex differences women than men compensation.
If resettlement or compensation Code sentences portraying the differences among people of
effects differ among people of Yes different ages regarding the effects of resettlement and or
Age differences different ages No compensation
How the resettled and/or
compensated feel about with
wellbeing related to outlook Code the change in self-reported wellbeing. This can be a
(Author's definition of wellbeing, Increased number, percentage or a sentence. if percentage remember
Self-reported not ours. Could change paper by Decreased to code in a way that we will know afterwards that was a
wellbeing paper) Stayed the same percentage
Head of the household
regardless of gender
Head of the household if
Compensation Who has the right to receive the Male Code the sentence that describes the actors that have right
Household Right compensation? Other to compensation in households
Compensation When compensation does not count Yes
undervalue for the right "value" of the assets No Code sentences portraying under compensation of assets
If there was a difference in
Compensation compensation depending on social Yes Code sentences portraying differences in compensation
disparity and/or economic status No depending on social or economic status
Code sentences portraying differences in what people got
If they there was a difference in and what had before. This can be also a number. but include
Compensation what local communities had before More sentences to be more explicit. It could be a value or
inconsistency and what they actually got Less perception
If there was a difference between
Compensation when compensation is promised and Yes
delay when people get it. No Code sentences explaining compensation delay.

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Table 4. (cont’d)
More Code sentences describing the difference of what builders
Compensation If there was a difference in what was Less promised and what people got. this can be in percentages
mismatch promised and what actually received Same and numbers.
Subtraction of compensation money
by officials, or others, before it
Compensation reaches those rightfully entitled Yes Code sentences portraying examples of corruption in
corruption (Cernea, 2003) No compensation
Misdirection of compensation
Compensation money by the recipients
cash unaccustomed to handling cash Yes
mismanagement (Cernea, 2003) No Code sentences presenting a misuse of cash by recipients.
Compensation
due to titles over Just people with land titles were Yes Code the sentence in case that compensation was only
Land compensated. No given to people with property rights over land.
Compensation The authors mentioned that Yes Code sentence portraying differences in compensation to
sex compensation differs based on sex No men, women.
Compensation The authors mentioned that Yes Code the sentence presenting differences in compensation
age compensation differs based on age No because of age
The authors mentioned that
compensation differs based on
Compensation ethnicity. Indigenous groups are Yes Code the sentence presenting differences in compensation
Ethnicity included No because of ethnicity
Natural Capital (fish stocks, land Land
owned, crops cultivated, etc. Trees
Compensation (Allison et al., 2006) compensation. Fish stocks
IK-Natural Is expressed in terms of the object or Livestock Code the sentence describing the compensation given to
capital service that is lost. Other people. This might include numbers.
House
Boats
Physical Capital (house) Motor
Compensation compensation. Is expressed in terms Technology
IK-Physical of the object or service that is loss. Agriculture inputs Code the sentence describing the compensation given to
capital Any kind of real physical asset. Other people. This might include numbers.

83
Table 4. (cont’d)
Human Capital (people's capabilities
in terms of their health, labor,
education, knowledge, skills
(Allison, et al., 2006) compensation.
Is expressed in terms of the object or Education
Compensation service that is lost. In this case Employment
IK-Human education, training, and health Training Code the sentence describing the compensation given to
capital services Other people. This might include numbers.
Cash
Training
House
Technology
Agriculture inputs Code the sentence describing the compensation given to
Trees people. This might include numbers. Code Out-kind
A type of compensation that Fish stocks compensation when the authors do not explain if assets
provides different resources or Livestock were replaced by the same type of assets. If you cannot tell
Compensation services as the lost or damaged to Land from the paper if it is a type of in-kind compensation, then
out-kind the affected populations. Other use this out-kind code!
Compensation If people were satisfied with the Yes Code the sentences portraying the satisfaction of people
satisfaction compensation that they got No who was compensated
Roads
Access to energy
Compensation given to the Schools
Compensation community and/or municipality by Health centers Code the sentences that describe compensation given to the
community the dam builders Other community and/or municipalities
The type of communities people Intact
were resettled into (sometimes Mixed with old communities
communities are resettled intact, Put into a host community
sometimes they are mixed with other Scattered throughout
old communities, or put into a new multiple types of sites
community that was already Mixed and put into a host Code the sentences that better describes the type of
Site type standing called a "host" community) community communities that people were resettled into
If resettled were able to continue Yes Code the sentences describing if people is living close to
Site neighbors living close to old neighbors No their old neighbors
If there is a government/company
plan for how
resettlement/compensation will work
(also called Resettlement Action Yes Code the name of the plan, or the sentence describing that
Official plan plan) No there was a plan for resettlement or compensation

84
Table 4. (cont’d)
Was the resettlement/compensation
plan/program inspired by other Yes Code the sentence describing if there was a theory guiding
Official theory experiences (different places) No the plans of resettlement or compensation
If there is activism against dam
Activism construction or the Yes Code the sentence describing the presence or not of
presence resettlement/compensation process No activism
Protest
How people protest dam Lawsuits
construction and Strikes
resettlement/compensation process. Sit ins
Activism When there is an organization. Other Code the sentence describing the type of activism
If authors mention that conflict was
present between impacted
population and dam
builders/government during
resettlement or compensation
process. Conflict is understood here
as a serious disagreement or Yes
Conflict argument. No Code the sentences describing conflict
Code the sentences that describe how people, households or
communities are coping or adapting to the impacts
If authors mention how individuals, generated by the dam. Code if the coping or adapting
households or communities are strategies are identified as positive or negative. If there is
Coping and adapting or coping to the impacts Yes: positive or negative no mention of whether it is a positive or negative change,
adaptation generated by the dam No just code "yes" for the change.

85
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