Managing mobilisation? : participatory processes and dam building in South Africa, the Berg River Project

Abstract

This paper examines the participatory processes which led to the building of the Berg River Dam in South Africa’s western Cape province. The government-led formal participatory processes initiated by government stand in contrast to the mobilisation of environmental activists against the building of the dam. The case study illustrates that in this case the creation of formal participatory spaces both subverted and neutralised resistance to the building of the dam on the part of the environmental movement as well as civil society. Keywords: mobilisation, participation, water scarcity, scientific knowledge, lay knowledge, environmental activism, water resources management