Conflict and complexity: The case of hydropower construction in Norway *

Abstract

This report presents and illustrates an approach with which to analyze complex, societal decision making, and the planning and opposition around it. We examine hydropower construction in Norway, where the ‘industrial complex’ has relentlessly pursued its post-war policy of developing hydropower facilities. During the 1970s this complex of interests was challenged by environmentalists and traditional economic interests (farming, fishing, and reindeer herding). In the case of one project, this led to the most serious societal confrontation in post-war Norway. The report examines the background to this conflict, its course and outcome.