White Gold

Examining five major public and private hydroelectric projects from the 1960s to the 1980s in various parts of Canada, Froschauer (sociology and anthropology, Simon Fraser U.) explains how they increased utility debts, hurt the environment and local communities, and resulted in the layoff of 25,000 employees. He describes errors in timing and magnitude, in expected influence on industrial transformation, and in integration into regional or national power grids. He applies a unifying political economy perspective to the example projects and the industry as a whole. He himself worked for BC Hydro from 1966 to 1981. Canadian card order number: C99-910638-4. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR