Communication processes in a development project: The Yacyreta hydroelectric dam Misiones, Argentina.
Item
-
Title
-
Communication processes in a development project: The Yacyreta hydroelectric dam Misiones, Argentina.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9020757
-
identifier
-
9020757
-
Creator
-
Ferradas, Carmen Alicia.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: June Nash
-
Date
-
1990
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Anthropology, Cultural | Sociology, Social Structure and Development
-
Abstract
-
This study examines processes of communication and miscommunication between and within the staff of a relocation agency and a displaced population. It analyzes a case study: the resettlement process of 20,000 people in the city of Posadas, Argentina who are being moved because of the construction of the Yacyreta hydroelectric dam.;Two dominant views on how to rationally achieve development goals--the "neopopulist and the authoritarian models of social intervention" are challenged. An alternative systemic approach is proposed to view development projects which may provide insight for projects in which we participate as development anthropologists. Neither the population to be relocated nor the relocation agency are seen as autonomous units: they comprise the same communication system. The system is regarded as a dynamic unit which simultaneously develops self reproducing mechanisms and reveals regularities through time. Those features generally seen as disruptive, irrational, and external are considered constitutive elements to the system. It is in this sense, that the analysis of the historical and political dimension is incorporated.;This study is neither an exclusive analysis of agency--those individuals who rationally make options to achieve goals--nor of structure, the rational organization of means to ends which responds to its own laws irrespective of the will of individuals. On the contrary, it tries to break with the dichotomic "either/or" alternative and attempts to bring to the fore, the tensions between and within each of them. It also considers the larger context in which the observed practices are inscribed.;One major purpose of this study is to critically examine the role of social scientists in development. Another major concern is to describe the dynamic role played by actors who are traditionally regarded as mere passive recipients of messages. Multiple practices and meanings are regarded as both the products of a process of negotiation, signification and resignification among the various participants. The chapters of this dissertation discuss: (1) how the process unfolds in time and space, (2) the role played by the project generated crisis, (3) the links between the process of positioning and communication practices, and (4) the communication practices themselves.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
