Rivers, Technology, and Society: Learning the Lessons of Water Management in Nepal

This examination of the fate of Nepal's premier natural resource has a much wider significance. Dipak Gyawali argues for the need to move away from a technocratic approach, to take full account of the social and political context of any development intervention and the costs and benefits borne by ordinary people. He shows that effective understanding and policy action depend on a holistic approach to the interface between water (or any natural resource), technology and social context. Through a series of case studies, including the notorious World Bank-promoted Arun 3 hydro scheme, he reveals the complexity of the development process, the extent of institutional distortion that external donor policies can induce in recipient societies, and the anti-developmental impacts of a state which is unrestrained by the countervailing power of civil society.