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Cold War Technopolitics: Czechoslovak Hydroexpertise in Africa
Mazanec, Jakub ; Janáč, Jiří (advisor) ; Miescher, Stephan (referee) ; Schulze, Frederik (referee)
Ghana, Guinea, Egypt, Algeria, Zambia, Ethiopia, and many other African countries; that is exactly where you can find great water works, machines, hydrological maps, plans, or the imaginary "footprints" of hydro experts from Czechoslovakia dwelling here especially before 1989. How is such a thing possible in a landlocked, central European country without a colonial history? The decolonisation of Africa, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, gave rise to a number of new states. These countries, until recently completely dependent politically and economically on their colonial capitals, were now looking for the most appropriate political, economic, and social model for their future direction. As part of full independence, they were trying to modernise their economies, which, in addition to supplementing their lack of infrastructure, meant making better use of their natural resources. The notion of a path to modernization through large-scale industrialization and the necessary electrification that went hand in hand with it made African leaders seek to make better use of the water resources their countries possessed. Given the lack of their own funds, experts and technology, the new governments were mostly dependent on cooperation with states in the Global North for water resources development. Water...
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