Abstract
This article examines the participation of Brazilian communities in the environmental impact assessment process of five hydroelectric dam projects in Minas Gerais State in the context of privatization of Brazil's electric sector. It focuses on how support of church, university, and environmental activists enabled dam-affected rural populations and their leaders to effectively contest dam plans. Popular rural mobilization and critiques of environmental impacts reports in public hearings by affected people and their allies, reinforced by support from urban political leaders, provided leverage needed by state environmental technocrats to vigorously enforce environmental regulations. Divergent project outcomes included private sponsor withdrawal of three projects and a relatively equitable resettlement agreement of another project. Findings suggest that under certain conditions, prior institutional reforms can facilitate the empowerment of affected people, enabling them to influence environmental decision making and energy policy.
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