Tom Lavers
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View article: Upending the Hydropolitics of the Nile
Upending the Hydropolitics of the Nile Open
This chapter examines the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Government’s efforts to challenge Egypt’s so-called ‘hydro-hegemony’ in the Nile Basin, first through cooperation and second through unilateralism. Given E…
View article: Beyond the ‘Developmental State’
Beyond the ‘Developmental State’ Open
This chapter examines the unravelling of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF’s) state-hydro model and the foreign policy that underpinned Ethiopia’s Nile ambitions. Popular protests gathered pace from 2015, event…
View article: Powering the ‘Developmental State’
Powering the ‘Developmental State’ Open
Limited progress with industrialization during the 2000s led the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) to launch the two five-year Growth and Transformation Plans that consolidated what the government described as its ‘…
View article: Modernization, State-Building, and the Hydraulic Mission in Imperial and Revolutionary Ethiopia
Modernization, State-Building, and the Hydraulic Mission in Imperial and Revolutionary Ethiopia Open
This chapter examines Ethiopia’s dam-building ambitions during the Imperial era and under the military-Marxist Derg regime. The chapter examines why the two regimes’ common ambition of building dams to expand the reach of the state and tra…
View article: Designing the Blue Nile Dam
Designing the Blue Nile Dam Open
This chapter tackles the question of why the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) bears little resemblance to any previous proposal for a Blue Nile dam over the preceding century. While the GERD occupies one of the sites long identified …
View article: Political Vulnerability and the Origins of the EPRDF’s Dams Boom
Political Vulnerability and the Origins of the EPRDF’s Dams Boom Open
This chapter focuses on the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF’s) first two decades in office from 1991 to 2010, analysing the government’s development strategy and the role of electricity within it, and the spatial…
View article: Dams, Power, and State-Led Development
Dams, Power, and State-Led Development Open
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the central arguments of the book, including that Ethiopia’s dams boom is symbolic of the successes and failures of Ethiopia’s ‘developmental state’. The chapter also situates the Ethiopian…
View article: Ethiopia’s Renaissance, Dams, and State-Led Development in the Twenty-First Century
Ethiopia’s Renaissance, Dams, and State-Led Development in the Twenty-First Century Open
This final chapter summarizes the book’s key arguments, highlighting, in particular, how the centralization of political power under the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front was essential to overcome the multi-scalar political…
View article: Electrifying Ethiopia, Consolidating Power
Electrifying Ethiopia, Consolidating Power Open
The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front’s (EPRDF’s) dam building was part of a national development strategy tasked not only with socioeconomic development but also with securing the political position of the ruling party. Hy…
View article: Salini
Salini Open
The history of Ethiopian dam building is deeply interwoven with the story of Salini Costruttori. Salini has been building dams in Ethiopia since the 1960s, navigating different political regimes to become a key partner of the Ethiopian Gov…
View article: Dams, Power, and the Politics of Ethiopia's Renaissance
Dams, Power, and the Politics of Ethiopia's Renaissance Open
After more than a decade, Ethiopia is filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a controversial dam with the potential to transform the hydrology and politics of the Nile Basin. The GERD is the culmination of a dam-building boom …
View article: Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’
Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’ Open
Ethiopia stands out as a leading example of state-led development in Africa. Tom Lavers offers in this book a comprehensive, multi-sector analysis of Ethiopia's development project, examining how regimes maintain power during the extended …
View article: Alternative routes to the institutionalisation of social transfers in sub-Saharan Africa: Political survival strategies and transnational policy coalitions
Alternative routes to the institutionalisation of social transfers in sub-Saharan Africa: Political survival strategies and transnational policy coalitions Open
The new phase of social protection expansion in the global south remains poorly understood. Current interpretations of the spread of social transfers in sub-Saharan Africa tend to emphasize the influence of elections and donor pressure, of…
View article: Institutionalization of social transfers
Institutionalization of social transfers Open
Institutionalization of social transfers index for the paper 'Alternative routes to the institutionalization of social transfers in sub-Saharan Africa: Political survival strategies and transnational policy coalitions' to be published in W…
View article: COVID-19 and the case for global development
COVID-19 and the case for global development Open
COVID-19 accentuates the case for a global, rather than an international, development paradigm. The novel disease is a prime example of a development challenge for all countries, through the failure of public health as a global public good…
View article: COVID-19 and the case for global development
COVID-19 and the case for global development Open
COVID-19 accentuates the case for a global, rather than an international, development paradigm. The novel disease is a prime example of a development challenge for all countries, through the failure of public health as a global public good…
View article: Responding to land-based conflict in Ethiopia: The land rights of ethnic minorities under federalism
Responding to land-based conflict in Ethiopia: The land rights of ethnic minorities under federalism Open
There is a common perception that Ethiopia is unusual in Africa in having a relatively uniform system of state land ownership. While highly influential, state ownership is not the only body of law with implications for land administration.…
View article: The negotiated politics of social protection in sub-Saharan Africa
The negotiated politics of social protection in sub-Saharan Africa Open
Social assistance programmes proliferated and expanded across much of the global South from the mid-1990s. Within Africa there has been enormous variation in this trend: some governments expanded coverage dramatically while others resisted…