Seeing Like a State vs. Seeing Like a Local Community : The Case of Dam Construction in the Nubian Homeland, Sudan

Lack of good governance measures in postcolonial African countries is one of the most depriving problems for local communities. Development for a long time has been portrayed as the only way forward, and the task of development has been assigned to the state. However, these assumptions have not correctly addressed the nature of the state-society relationship. The ruling elites have deliberately obscured the identity of their own interests with the "national interest" through the manipulation of the idea of development and economic progress. This book shows how these legacies of detrimental experiences have shaped the current Nubians' critical perceptions and informed their resistance to the Kajbar proposed dam as a state-driven development project.