Large Dams Through the Lens of Resilience: Perspectives on the Pakitzapango Dam Project in Peru

This blog entry is in continuation to the two immediately preceding ones where I asked Stavrianna and Adeniyi more about themselves and their award-wining dissertations. This post features Ana Osuna Orozco from Mexico City. Ana's topic was particularly challenging because at a broader level, she attempted to research a topic that has already been done to death in academia, but from a completely new angle. Her dissertation was entitled, 'Large Dams Through the Lens of Resilience: Perspectives on the Pakitzapango Dam Project in Peru'. Given below are her answers to the same questions I asked all three of them. 

• Could you tell us a bit more about your background before you started the Masters programme? 

I studied International Relations in Mexico City and dedicated the first year of my professional life to the public sector. I worked at the Mexican Ministry for Foreign Affairs, as part of Mexico's G20 team. There I deepened the knowledge and interest I had developed in Uni on international development issues. I decided to get involved in this field fully, starting with a masters degree on the topic. 

• What made you pick this particular topic for your dissertation? 

At the beginning, it was a matter of opportunity,because was an issue that the organisation where I was an intern worked on and they provided my a first insight on the matter and, of course, contacts to conduct my primary research. But I also found the topic fascinating because indigenous peoples are one of the few human groups who challenge mainstream development agendas by leading an alternative way of life,one led by a totally different paradigm. And to some, paying heed to how these people live is crucial to reconcile environment and development.

• What do you hope to achieve through it? 

I wanted to obtain my degree, of course, but I also wanted to provide some (very modest) academic underpinnings to support a campaign that already has very strong legal and humanitarian arguments behind it. 

• What were your challenges while working on this dissertation? 

By far the biggest challenge I had to face was trying to speak to indigenous peoples. Although I spent some days visiting various Ashaninka communities of the Peruvian Amazon, I could only get two interviews with Ashaninka people. I greatly underestimated the amount of confidence building and of mutual understanding I needed in order to conduct interviews with them. 

• If you had to re-do the thesis, would you do it differently? if yes, how so?

From an academic standpoint, my thesis process was all upside down because I had a case study before I had the concept I wanted to analyse it with, and that made research design very difficult. If I could do it again, I'd start by thinking of concepts and theories and then try to see what the Ashaninka can say about that.

Ana's dissertation uses a very important framework that is gaining currency in the development sector - Resilience. In fact, the latest report of the United Nations Secretary-General's high level panel on global Sustainability is entitled, 'Resilient People, Resilient Planet - A Future Worth Choosing'. Considering that the UN report came out in Jan 2012 and Ana's work was submitted in September the previous year, it spells a deep understanding of key development issues and it seems that her dissertation couldn't have been produced at a more opportune time. It addresses some critical questions such as 'What is development?' 'Who decides what it is?' and although she has used a particular case study from Peru, I personally feel I wouldn't be stretching the truth when I say parallels can be drawn to many different countries across the globe.  Ana's work also stands out not just for the quality of the analysis and the coherence of her work but also another factor that many students of development studies will recognize immediately - Reflexivity. In simple words one could say that it is demonstrating that one is aware of the lens with which the world is being viewed. This is critical because any evaluation/recommendations that are made by the researcher usually stem from values and frames of reference that are deeply embedded and they need not necessarily be shared by those who are being 'researched'. One could also be influenced in the process of research and therefore it is crucial to maintain such self awareness in order to recognize it when and if it occurs. Ana's dissertation challenges mainstream development and urges the reader to commit to understanding communities like the Ashaninka better. After all, if the rainforests must be preserved in places such as Peru, it is critical to acknowledge in all humility that no one knows these forests more intimately than they do. Their knowledge and way of life is indeed worth protecting. I loved the conclusion of the thesis.'In this dissertation, arguing for resilience of Ashaninka communities and their environment is based on the idea that cultural plurality and creating the conditions for human groups to exercise their “right to invent life” are ends worth pursuing.' Read Ana's dissertation here.