Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
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LTHOUGH MOST
experts readily acknowledge the fact that dams alter ecosystems and
communities—sometimes irreversibly—the science, policy, and politics surrounding hydro-
power development are often contentious. Such controversy arises in large part, I have
learned, from the epistemological differences between experts from different
fields—engineers, economists, hydrologists, geographers, anthropologists, and others who,
by virtue of their training, have come to see the world quite differently. Yet collaboration,
cross-disciplinary thinking, and holistic analysis are all necessary preconditions to under-
standing and addressing the complex problems related to hydropower development. How do
scientists and policy makers reach decisions about the management of water resources for
ecological benefits, for human use, and for hydropower production? What criteria enter into
the decision-making process, and how are these various criteria weighted by those in a po-
sition to steer policy? In the political economy of knowledge about water resources, whose
expertise carries the day?
The anthropologist Laura Nader, who has long advocated the practice of what she calls
“studying up,” suggests that the first step in understanding decision making in a complex
institutional environment is to take a close look at scientists and other experts within the in-
stitutions where they work. Nader writes, “The point of this work is not to 'put scientists in
their place' (although one might want to).… The point is to open up people's minds to other
ways of looking and questioning to change attitudes about knowledge, to reframe the organ-
ization of science” (1996:23)
In other words, scientists and policy makers are social actors, too, and thus worthy sub-
jects of study in their own right. The ways in which they approach their fields of study,
how they produce knowledge, and how this knowledge affects policy and regulatory de-
cisions—all are crucial, if seldom examined, topics. My aim in this chapter is to examine the
epistemological processes involved in high-level decision making about water resources and
dams in contemporary China. I do this by drawing upon observations and interviews with
scientists and policy makers from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds and by reflecting on
