Page 320 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

294 S. Semken and E. Brandt

although the government provided a compensation package that was designed to
improve their post-relocation living conditions, the people themselves felt that
monetary compensation could not replace their loss of place, their spiritual connection
of a river now inundated, their role as guardians for this river, and their identity.
Differences were found between the two villages related to their place-based values,
attachments, and spirituality; and the success of their relocation. The authors con-
clude that compensation and socioeconomic assessment of consequences may often
miss the mark. Ethnographic techniques such as participant observation, in-depth
unstructured and structured interviewing, and use of cognitive techniques such as
free listing, can tease out information on place meanings and place attachment prior
to relocation, and inform predictive assessments of adjustment after relocation.
Ideally, such data should be used proactively before final decisions are made, to
avert the many negative consequences of relocation. With what was learned from
this study and earlier work by Scudder (1982, 2009) and others, governmental and
private organizations can go beyond current policy such as that of the World Bank
for relocations and resettlements.

Contested Places

Place is fundamental to both individual and sociocultural identity. It is also a set of
persistent emotional ties that form part of the basis of identity; that is, place attach-
ment, one component of the sense of place. For the most part, place attachment is
molded through the oral tradition, both in literate and nonliterate traditions.
However, it can also be created through social and historical memories; and explicit
teaching in schools, cultural institutions such as museums, and visits to cultural and
historical sites. These processes create place meanings, which also contribute to
sense of place.
When different groups have different senses of place attached to the same places
or areas, conflict may occur. In many cases, these concerns are relatively local, and
are often ignored by development planners, whether large or small. Projects can
and do displace and often impoverish millions of people throughout the world;
dam-building is one of the most prevalent causes. Many of the people affected most
strongly by such displacement are indigenous people. Although there is a robust
literature on this problem (e.g., Scudder 1982, 2009), and in spite of scholarly
consensus on causes and effects, devastating impacts continue worldwide. Places
may be contested by competing rhetorics, public campaigns, advertising, political
power, legal action or threat of this where appropriate laws exist, but can also escalate
to sabotage, direct conflict, and even wars.
As globalization and development spread, contestation over places important to
different groups for different reasons can be expected to occur. This will be an
evermore important effect as the world population grows, and as different ideologies
and religions expand their spheres of influence.