Countries in the Global South favor hydropower because it is a low-carbon and sustainable energy source that can satisfy their energy needs and allow them to meet anticipated increases in energy demand. However, the construction of hydroelectric dams increases social and environmental inequities across multiple scales. In this dissertation, I explore the social-ecological impacts and energy injustices generated by large-scale hydroelectric dams in the Global South, focusing on dams in the Brazilian Amazon. In chapter one, I conduct a meta-analysis and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to understand the changes in local livelihoods in 33 hydroelectric dam projects built in the Global South. I found that natural, social, human, and financial capital are negatively impacted, whereas physical capital is positively impacted. The findings showed a relationship between lack of participation in decision-making and negative impacts on people’s capital. I also found that mega-dams negatively impact people’s capital regardless of the energy security status of a nation. In chapter two, I examine how the construction of the Madeira hydroelectric complex in Brazil (the Jirau and San Antônio dams) has impacted the adaptive capacity of local communities in terms of food and energy security. I find that the adaptive capacity of local communities has been significantly reduced, which limits the opportunities of these communities to adapt to future climatic and anthropogenic shocks. Food security has been significantly affected and that the energy supply in the communities is unreliable. Despite living near two large hydroelectric dams, many still lack electricity access and depend on diesel generators. In chapters three and four, I conduct a longitudinal qualitative case study of data collected in a community downstream from the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. Data were collected at three points: during the late stage of construction (2016) and early operation (2017, 2019). Chapter three explores the multidimensional and multitemporal energy injustices experienced by this community. In this chapter, I use the distributional, procedural, recognition, restorative, and capabilities energy justice tenets to understand how local actors experience different injustices and how these interact over time. I found that these injustices are intertwined, causing and perpetuating the new and established structural injustices these communities have faced. In chapter four, I study, from a social-ecological resilience approach, the responses of individuals and households towards the effects of the construction of the Belo Monte dam. I show how individual and household responses to hydropower development occur along the spectrum from absorptive/coping to adaptation to transformation. These responses differ by gender and household characteristics. The dissertation shows how an energy source portrayed as a solution for achieving energy transition generates immense social-ecological impacts and multidimensional and multitemporal energy injustices perpetuating structural inequities. As energy demand and the need for a clean energy transition are increasing, we must find energy systems that look beyond just low carbon emissions to those that also address energy injustices, and provide fair and equitable processes that consider gender, ethnicity, race, and class.
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