Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war Period

The heated discussions and controversies over large dams that marked the start of the 21st century have led us in this article to examine the conditions under which Alpine dams were received during the first construction phase of the 1920s and 1930s. Although the extent of social and environ-mental...

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Main Author: Anne Dalmasso
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institut de Géographie Alpine 2008-03-01
Series:Revue de Géographie Alpine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/rga/405
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author Anne Dalmasso
author_facet Anne Dalmasso
author_sort Anne Dalmasso
collection DOAJ
description The heated discussions and controversies over large dams that marked the start of the 21st century have led us in this article to examine the conditions under which Alpine dams were received during the first construction phase of the 1920s and 1930s. Although the extent of social and environ-mental impacts was not the same, the types of questions raised concerning methods of appropriation and uses to which water was put are similar. Among the arguments for and against, which always tend to be structured around the promotion or denunciation of the virtues of modernisation and development, the acceptability of dams depends firstly on the disturbances caused to the distribution of property rights and land usage rights and the ability to balance out gains and losses among the different social groups concerned. These questions are examined in the light of two dams constructed in the French Alps in the 1930s, the Chambon and Sautet dams.
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publisher Institut de Géographie Alpine
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spelling doaj-art-71404a42aef44e1a936dd9b4dfb1992a2025-01-10T15:56:23ZengInstitut de Géographie AlpineRevue de Géographie Alpine0035-11211760-74262008-03-01961556610.4000/rga.405Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war PeriodAnne DalmassoThe heated discussions and controversies over large dams that marked the start of the 21st century have led us in this article to examine the conditions under which Alpine dams were received during the first construction phase of the 1920s and 1930s. Although the extent of social and environ-mental impacts was not the same, the types of questions raised concerning methods of appropriation and uses to which water was put are similar. Among the arguments for and against, which always tend to be structured around the promotion or denunciation of the virtues of modernisation and development, the acceptability of dams depends firstly on the disturbances caused to the distribution of property rights and land usage rights and the ability to balance out gains and losses among the different social groups concerned. These questions are examined in the light of two dams constructed in the French Alps in the 1930s, the Chambon and Sautet dams.https://journals.openedition.org/rga/405damshistorydevelopment
spellingShingle Anne Dalmasso
Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war Period
Revue de Géographie Alpine
dams
history
development
title Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war Period
title_full Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war Period
title_fullStr Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war Period
title_full_unstemmed Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war Period
title_short Dams and Development in the French Alps in the Inter-war Period
title_sort dams and development in the french alps in the inter war period
topic dams
history
development
url https://journals.openedition.org/rga/405
work_keys_str_mv AT annedalmasso damsanddevelopmentinthefrenchalpsintheinterwarperiod