The Perils of State Developmentalism from Above: Local Impacts of the Gibe-3 Hydropower Project Regime, Southern Ethiopia

In a context of renewed interest in the idea of state-led developmentalism and the current aggressive resurgence of related dams’, especially in Africa, this study aims to explore the local implications of such large dam construction processes through the analysis of the Gibe-3 dam project as a case study. Drawing upon fieldwork, this paper makes a detailed analysis of how decision making practices in planning of the dam project and compensation efforts have been conducted and what consequences these have had on the local communities.