Shifting Perspectives on Development: An Actor-Network Study of a Dam in Costa Rica

Author(s): Christoph Campregher

Source: Anthropological Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Fall 2010), pp. 783-804
Published by: The George Washington University Institute for Ethnographic Research
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ShiftingPerspectives on
Development: AnActor-Network
Studyof a Dam in Costa Rica
ChristophCampregher
Universityof Vienna,Austria
Universityof Costa Rica

Abstract
Thearticleconcernsthepoliticalnegotiations duringtheplanningprocessof
a hydroelectric dam whoseconstruction affectsan indigenouscommunity
in Costa Rica. In orderto allow the thickdescriptionof thisdevelopment-
network,the study traces how threeactors in the field- development
workers,indigenousactivists,and an independentresearcher - produce
culturalrepresentations and conceptswithapparentlyclear boundaries.
Thismultivocalaccountshowshow developmentprojectsconstitutethem-
selves by associatingheterogeneousactors. Simultaneously, it highlights
theproductionof culturalrepresentations and knowledgeof development.
[Keywords:anthropologyof development,Actor-Network Theory,chains
of translation,El Diquis, Costa Rica, hydroelectrical
dam, Trraba]

AnthropologicalQuarterly,Vol. 83, No. 4, pp. 783-804, ISSN 0003-549. 2010 by the Institutefor Ethnographic
Research (IFER) a part of the George WashingtonUniversity.All rightsreserved.

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ShiftingPerspectiveson Development: An Actor-Network
Studyof a Dam in Costa Rica

L Introduction
The anthropological study of development, anthropology's "evil twin"
(Ferguson 1997a), has gained increasing importance and recognition as a
distinct subfield of anthropology as a discipline. Lewis and Mosse (2006)
distinguish three approaches in the anthropology of development: (a.)
instrumentalones, which promote social progress through the means of
more effective development interventions, institutional reforms,or the
establishment of new methods; (b.) deconstructivistapproaches, which
criticize development politics and economics as a distinct hegemonic dis-
course (Escobar 1995, Ferguson 1997b, Sachs 1992); and (c.) sociological
interactionism,which promotes a sociology of development based on the
empirical investigation of the interactions between developers, devel-
opees, and the "brokers" in between (Arce and Long 2000; Bierschenk,
Chauveau, and Olivier de Sardan 1999; Olivier de Sardan 2005). This paper
takes some insightsfrom Actor-NetworkTheory (ANT)to show, first,how
these three approaches can be combined to give a more complex picture
of development processes, and second, that each one of them reflectsthe
perspectives of actors' positions in the development context.
In the second half of 2006, I had the opportunityto study the negotia-
tions between an indigenous communityand a planned dam in southern
Costa Rica. For this study (Campregher 2008), I chose an interactionist
approach, taking the standpoint of a neutral outside observer. In the pres-
ent article, I want to reinterpretthis study based on a relational approach
informed by Actor-NetworkTheory and on the principle of symmetry
which states that scientific practice needs to be treated in the same way
as any other practice. The aim of this reinterpretationis to present the
anthropologist's interpretationson the same level as the descriptions and
interpretationsof the actors and informants(relativism), and finally to
interpretall together as different,but equally valid attempts to establish
and maintain networks(relationism).
To shiftthe observers' perspectives in the present case study will allow
us to combine some advantages of the three aforementioned paradigms
while avoiding some of their shortcomingsand "blind spots." In order to
provide a "thick description" (Geertz 1973) of the Costa Rican dam proj-
ect, I present the interpretations and points of view of the central
actors- development workers, indigenous activists, and an independent
researcher- including their reflectionson their own positions and those
of their respective counterparts. Each of these perspectives on develop-

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mentwill be shownto correspondto the threeanthropologicalapproach-

es cited above. Finally,the actors,theirpractices,and discourseswill be
shownto formpartsof different chainsof translation(Latour1999).

IL Actor-NetworkTheory and the Study of Development

A growingnumberof studiesfromthe field of Science and Technology
Studies(STS)have arguedthatscientificpracticedoes notdifferprincipal-
lyfromotherordinaryand mundanepracticein the sense of permitting
usa privilegedinsightinto"reality"or "nature"(Bloor1991; Calln1986;
Latour1987, 1999). Ratherit is the specificconditionsand the contextsof
the productionof scientificknowledgewhich account for its status as
"true" facts. Scholars of STS emphasize, therefore,a sociologywhich
investigatesscience in the makingor as practicein the same wayanthro-
pologistswould studyanyotherkindof activity(Latour1987). One of the
consequencesof this positionis to adopt the principleof symmetry pro-
moted by Bloor (1991) that states that "true" knowledge must be
explainedbythe same conceptsas knowledgethatis considered"false."
Actor-Network Theoryis one approach in the fieldof STS. It aims to
overcomethe dichotomousdistinctionbetween nature/technology and
societybyusing a notion of networks that include human and non-human
agents.Their"network"conceptservesto describe basicallyany assem-
blage of at least threeelementsthat are in any way connected. Its ele-
mentsare humansand objects,whichneed to be treatedsymmetrically
bythe researcher{generalizedsymmetry) (Schulz-Schaeffer 2000).
Adopting these of for
principles symmetry anthropology would meanto
apply the same language to (1.) rightand wrongstatements(truthand
errorsor knowledgeand belief);(2.) humanbeingsand materialobjects(in
orderto overcomethe nature-society divide);(3.) westernand non-western
societies;and (4.) anthropologicaland non-anthropological practice.The
anthropologist should treatthem in the same way and explain them by
using the same kindof factorsand concepts(Rottenburg 1998:62-64).An
anthropology based on theseprinciplesofsymmetry promisesto overcome
notonlythe modernwesternphilosophywhichconceptualizesnatureand
societyas twodistinctspheres,butalso the granddividebetweenmodern
and primitive or premodernsocietiesbyframingthemas collectivesthat
integratea different numberof humanand non-humanbeings,and which
constructtheircosmologiesaroundthem(Latour1993). This is one of the

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ShiftingPerspectiveson Development: An Actor-NetworkStudyof a Dam in Costa Rica

reasons why STS and especially Actor-NetworkTheory are increasinglyrel-

evant for the anthropological study of development (Mosse 2005,
Rottenburg2009, Weilenmann 2005). These studies do not claim any prin-
cipal differencebetween western culture or expert knowledge, on the one
hand, and local knowledge or culturallyconstrained beliefs, on the other
hand, which in conventional development thinkingoften represent possi-
ble obstacles of development success or reasons for project failure.
Treating anthropological practice in the same way we treat any other
kind of practice has at least two consequences. First,we cannot make a
difference between the opinions or considerations of anthropologists
when they speak or write about a development project (or other aspects
of society) and those of people from other professions and backgrounds.
All are products of specific circumstances and are equally positioned. As I
will show, every one of the three anthropological approaches mentioned
above, identifieswith a specific actor's position or standpoint fromwhich
development is observed- be that the developers, the developees, or the
one of an observer from "outside." Consequently, neither one of them
can be considered as more objective than the others, as that would mean
that there would be actors in the development arena that see realitymore
directly, more objectively, or more "truly" than others. It would also
mean to establish an asymmetryof viewpoints a priori to the investiga-
tion, which is exactly what we should avoid. I propose to integrate insights
from all actors' positions by switching between the three mentioned
approaches and to combine them using a relational approach, as Actor-
Network Theory suggests (Latour 1999, 2005). Second, if scientific
accounts are positioned no differentlyto how other actors' accounts are,
than we should striveto include various accounts in the description of spe-
cific phenomena, either by integratingthem as far as that is possible or,
as I opt for, by alternating them by shiftingthe observers' perspectives
and their corresponding frames of reference.
What do I mean by "shiftingthe perspectives?" Everyaccount of reali-
ty not only depicts reality,but always orders the way in which we perceive
it. As a consequence, every representation has its blind spot: it cannot
observe either its own position or its own differentiationsand classifica-
tions. If we cannot get rid of the blind spots, at least we can tryto place
them differently.So, instead of getting lost in endless and complex
debates about definitions of reality,we can change, or shift,the observ-
er's positions according to the goals of our study (Rottenburg2009).

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Forthe presenttext,thatmeansthe following:

(1.) Instead of describingour case studyof the politicalnegotiations
betweena planneddam and an indigenouscommunity conventionallyfrom
the viewpointof the anthropologist and tryingto confirmmyaccount by
citingexcerptsand passagesof interviews, I will illustratethe representa-
tionsoftheactorsor actorgroupsas theyweregivenbythem(sectionsIII.I
and III.II). Followingthis,theviewpointofthe researcher (sectionMINI)will
be treatedand presentedin thesame wayas the non-sociological accounts.
(2.) As I willshow,the threeperspectivesof the actorsin the case study
correspondwiththe three anthropologicalapproaches describedabove
(instrumentalanthropology,criticaldeconstructivism, and sociological
interactionism) in its positioningand itsview on the phenomenon.
all
(3.) Finally, threeactor groupscontributeto the constitutionof a
unifiedrepresentation of the dam project,and all act as elementsin larg-
er chains of translation.The last part (III.IV) describes how the actors
develop theirrepresentations and how theyinteractwithotherelements
in the network.

III. Case Study: To Develop a Dam

The context of our case study is a hydroelectricalproject called
Hydroelectrical ProjectEl Diquis^ or PHEDforitsinitiallettersin Spanish,
whichis planned to be constructedin southernCosta Rica,and the con-
structionof which affectsthe indigenouscommunityof Trraba. The
mainactorsare sociologistsand anthropologists who are employedbythe
projectto workon and withthe affectedpopulation,indigenousoppo-
nentsto the project,and an independentresearcher.The sociologistsand
anthropologistsof the PHED confrontthe question of how to mediate
betweenrivalgroupsin Trrabaand the project'sexecutives(instrumen-
tal approach).In the followingsection(III.I), I will let themspeak to the
readerin orderto describethe projectand the difficulties theyconfront.
A coalitionof indigenousactivistsin Trrabacategoricallyrejectsthe
construction of the dam. They"deconstruct"the plans and argumentsof
its representatives,demandingin its stead the rightto realize theirown
ideas of an autonomous indigenousdevelopment(criticaldeconstruc-
tivism).In sectionIII.II, these criticswill be presented.Thissectionis fol-
lowed bya descriptionof the independentethnographer's (interactionist)
positionas outsideobserver(III.III).

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ShiftingPerspectiveson Development: An Actor-NetworkStudyof a Dam in Costa Rica

All positionsare similarin the sense thattheyproduceculturalrepre-

sentationsof the same social reality,representationswhichtheyperceive
as real and genuine. In addition, all of them translateand mediate
betweenrealityand its representations (Latour1999). In the last section
(III.IV),I willshowwhythe actorsdepend on each other,whiletheytryto
establishdifferent and competingrepresentations of reality.

///./Developmentand its Promoters

Atthe end of2004 the CostaRicanElectricity Institute (ICE)2presentedthe
latestversionof a seriesof plansto constructa dam forthe productionof
in the country'sSouthernPacificregion.This project,whichis
electricity
titledHydroelectrical ProjectEl Diquis (PHED),aims to constructa dam at
the Trraba Riverwhichbordersthe recognizedindigenousterritory of
the same name. Witha lake of approximately six thousand hectares,it
shouldproducemorethansix hundredmegawattsof electricity forwhich
it needs the investmentof about 1.85 millionUS Dollars (Artavia2008,
InstitutoCostarricense de Electricidad2006).
In general,theargumentsin the project'spolicydocumentsaim to con-
vincepowerful actorssuchas politicians, transnational corporations,inter-
nationalorganizations,investorsor opposingenvironmental groups,and
non-governmental organizations(NGOs).Theyargue the necessityof the
projectformeetingthe country'srisingdemandforenergy,and promote
theproject'sbenefits forthepoorregion'seconomy,possibilities ofemploy-
ment,infrastructure, and opportunities forlocal tourism.Atthesame time,
theyrespondto criticalvoices fromconservationist organizationsby pre-
senting measures to reduce environmental impact and damages.
To establishthe contactwiththe ruralpopulationin the projectarea,
the ICE maintainsa special departmentas partof the project'sorganiza-
tionalstructure, the Departmentof Social Investigation. In an one-storied
building in the provincecapital Buenos work
Aires, about a dozen devel-
opmentworkerswithsociologicalbackgrounds, and their Their
assistants.
taskscan be dividedintothreedomains: (a.) informing affectedpopula-
tionsabout the project;(b.) researchon the population;and (c.) coordina-
tion withaffectedcommunitiesthroughtheirown representatives. The
argumentsof the project'spolicyplans are hardlyusefulto convince the
affectedpeople of its benefitsas theygenerallyargue in the name of a
ratherabstractnationalinterestand macro-economic advantages.It is the
project'ssocial scientists'taskto translatethese plans intoconcretestate-

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mentsand to findanswersto the questionsof worriedfarmersand ambi-

tiouscommunity leaders.
Amongthe populationin the projectarea, the indigenouscommunity
of Trraba is one of the mostdifficultones. The specificproblemsthat
arose for the PHED in Trraba are primarilydue to the community's
indigenousidentityand the specificlegal characterof its recognizedter-
Ata meeting,the social scientistsat the PHEDdescribeitsspecific
ritory.
relevanceas follows:

Reportof the Membersof the DepartmentforSocial Investigation3

In Trraba, there exist various organized groups which compete
among themselves.Each groupclaims to representthe indigenous
community or partsof it, and simultaneouslyquestionsthe legiti-
macyof othergroups.We originallyworkedwiththe Associationof
Integral Development (ADI),4which according to Costa Rican
IndigenousLaw is the legallyrecognizedinstitution that represents
theterritory.5 The indigenousterritory ofTrrabais subjectto a spe-
cificlegislation,establishedbythe Costa RicanIndigenousLawand
internationalconventionssuch as the ILO Convention169.6 For
example, inside the legallyestablishedterritory land can only be
owned byindigenouspeople and can onlybe tradedbetweenthem.
Nevertheless,in the past the legal normswere not successfully
implementedand executed,and so it comes,thattodayonlyabout
ten per cent of Trraba'sland is actuallypossessed by indigenous
persons.The majorityof the land is in the handsof non-indigenous
colonists,althoughtheycannotclaim any legal titleto it. Thissitu-
ation has led to a seriesof long lastingproblemsand conflicts.
Otherexistinggroupsin the community formthe politicaloppo-
sitionto the ADI and its leaders' politics.Theyargue thatthe ADI is
an institution imposedbythe stateand, therefore,rejectit. Instead
theyclaim the rightto formtheirown organizationsindependently
and to promotetheirvisionsof developmentautonomouslyof the
state. These oppositional groups frequentlyrefer to the ILO
Convention169, ratifiedby Costa Rica in 1992, which recognizes
specificrightsof indigenouspeoples. The majorityof theirleaders
rejectedthe PHED in the past.
In 2005, the ICEneededto completegeologicalstudiesat thewest-
ernriverside oftheTrrabariverinsidethe indigenousterritory. The

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affectedarea is propertyof a non-indigenoussettler. Initially,the ICE

got permission from both the ADI which legally representsthe com-
munityand itsterritory,and fromthe individual landowner. However,
shortlyafter the ICE began to carry out the studies, a coalition of
opponents fromthese independent indigenous groups denounced the
ICE's actions at Costa Rica's Supreme Court.7They argue, first,that the
excavations and explorations which the ICE undertook affect the
water quality of the Trraba River negatively.Second, according to
the ILO Convention,the state must consult the indigenous population
if it is to undertake any legislative or administrative action that
affectsit or its territory.Anyconsultation must, so these indigenous
leaders, include the whole communityor at least representativesfrom
all of the organizations that exist in Trraba. Therefore,they argue
the ICE has not yet consulted the community.As a consequence, the
studies would violate their fundamental rights.
As a reaction, the ICE has stopped the studies until the complaint
should be resolved. We, the Department of Social Investigation,
established working relations with all organized groups in Trraba,
some of them maintain a more cooperative position while others
are more critical. One of our current projects is an ethnography of
Trraba in which we want to focus on the ideas and concepts of
development that exist among the communitymembers and its fac-
tions. The results will be compared to the ICE's notion of develop-
ment and to the possibilities of convergence of these seemingly
opposing visions, in order to build on stronger relations with and
among the community's organizations
In the mid-term,we aim to establish a common legitimate plat-
form, in which all of the rivaling groups participate, in order to
facilitate the coordination with them. In the future, this platform
should define the indigenous community's position regarding the
project on common grounds based on information, rather than
rumors and misinterpretationas has been the case in the past.
Another difficultyhas been to integrate the social dynamics of
this specific case into the project's plans and strategies. It has
proven difficultto communicate complex social issues inside an
organization that is predominantly composed of people with back-
grounds in economics and engineering. Having to deal with cultur-
ally differentpopulations is a relatively new issue for the ICE. For

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manyexecutives,it has been surprising thata relativelysmallgroup

of ruralpeasants (as theyperceiveTrraba)can stop or delay the
project's activities.So, our effortsare to integratethe complex
social realityinto the project'spolicyplans and strategies,on the
one hand,and to raise consciousnessforthe complexissues related
withindigenouspeoples such as Trraba,on the other.
(End of the reportof the PHED's social scientists.)

In short,the sociologistsand anthropologists confrontthe following

challenges:Theyneed to carefullybuilda trustingrelationshipwitheach
one of the conflictingfactions,whichtheyshould then integrateinto a
decision makingprocess.They mustdefinecommongoals whichcould
serveto connectthe projectand thedifferent groupsin orderto avoid the
escalatingof existingconflictsand rivalries.Thesegroupsare to be helped
in theireffortsand tasks in orderto build relationsof trustand confi-
dence. Local visionsof developmentneed to be investigatedin orderto
define where they can meet with the ICE's vision. The significanceof
social factorsneed to be increasedin the planningprocessof develop-
ment projects,and consciousnessfor ethnicdifferenceand indigenous
rightsmustbe promotedinsidethe ICE.
Theirapproach representsthe instrumental paradigm,similarin kind
to the accounts which Euro-American anthropologistsadopted in their
engagement in multilateraldevelopmentinstitutions such as the World
Bank(Horrowitz 1996). In thesecases, sociologistsor anthropologists
were
mediatorsbetweenthe plans of these institutions and the complexreali-
ties in whichtheyare to be implemented.Theycan be seen as "brokers"
or "translators"(Lewis& Mosse2006) in the developmentcontext.

///.//Deconstruction
The ICE'splans forthe constructionof the dam have provokedopposition
froma groupof indigenousTrrabas.The "Frontagainstthe PHED" is an
alliance of indigenousleaders of Trraba.SupportedbyvariousNGOs,it
organizes periodic meetings,assemblies, press conferences,and other
activitiesto statetheirdiscontentwiththe project.In theirconversations
and publicspeeches theycriticizehow the ICEapproachesthe communi-
ty,the project,and theirunderlying notionof development.
Theirargumentsemphasizethe negativeeffectsof the projecton the
region'secology,and theconflictsthatmayariseas a resultofthe presence

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of even larger numbers of non-indigenous migrantworkers. Many of the

older Teribes recall their largely negative experiences when the firstwave
of non-indigenous settlers came during the construction of the Inter-
American Highwayin the 1960s (Guevara and Chacn 1992, Amador 2002).
The conflictingrelations between these two ethnic groups and the still mar-
ginal position of indigenous peoples in Costa Rican society are the reasons
forthe last one's skeptical attitude towards the state's development policy.
Contraryto this policy, their spokespersons promote a vision of an
autonomous and auto-determined indigenous development that consid-
ers cultural, ecological, and economic factors- instead of emphasizing
exclusivelythe last one. They demand access to key resources which other
regions or social groups have, such as land or capital in the formof cred-
its or special funds. Instead of exploiting natural resources, they suggest
conserving them to benefit from them in the long run. Eco-tourism,the
promotion of research of the still existing biological diversity,and organ-
ic agricultureare considered alternatives that may be economically viable
without destroying their environment. The indigenous leaders say that
promoters of the PHED argue in terms of economic benefits and techno-
logical modernization. But they in turn experienced the modernization
process as one of integrationinto the Costa Rican society as the most mar-
ginal and underprivileged group. The benefits promised by the project do
not meet their needs because these benefits would not bring any change
in their relation with the state and the rest of society.
Supported largely by non-governmental organizations and programs,
various groups in Trraba work in the reforestation and protection of
their tropical forestsand tryto practice their agriculture in an ecological-
ly sustainable way. In their opinion, the construction of a dam would
reverse many of their achievements. As a result of these considerations,
they reject the project and its underlyingconcept of development.
The indigenous critics are against the PHED's concept of development
because it considers exclusively economic benefits. The project operates
on the basis of massive investment in infrastructureand technological
modernization for the extraction of value at the cost of the environment
and in form of a top-down interventionthrough an external enterprise.
Development in this understanding means modernization, economic
growth,and restructuringa rural, peripheral region.
The indigenous leaders, on the contrary,constructa differentvision of
development that considers cultural, social, and economic factors. It is

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based on equal access to land,education,and capitalforindigenousfami-

lygroups,smallassociations,and cooperatives.Anditshouldbe conducted
in the formof autonomouslyadministrated programsthatwould be inde-
pendent of external institutions
and the influenceof morepowerful actors.
Developmentin thisviewis a self-determined, autonomousprocessthatis
preventedbycertainobstacles, butcan be pushedoffifmarginalgroupsor
regionsare providedequal access and rightsto keyresources.
In the presentcase, the indigenousopponentsof the dam question
the argumentsand the ideologyof the ICEand the underlyingnotionof
development.Theyprovideus witha deconstructivist response.Forthe
argument of this article,this means that,firstly,developmentinterven-
tionsdo not necessarilytake place withoutthe active resistanceof some
of the people theyaffect;and, secondly,that in practicediscoursesare
neverabsolute and all-comprising as some postmodernist studieswould
suggest(Escobar1995, Ferguson1997b), but always contested.Third,it
does not need an anthropologist to unmaskthe developmentdiscourses.
I suggestthat anthropologistsshould look forthe "real" opponents of
these interventions and documenttheirdeconstructivepracticeempiri-
cally, instead of speaking for them by puttingoneself in their place
(Olivierde Sardan 2005:112).

///.///ObservedfromOutside
The PHEDnotonlyprovokesopposition,butalso attractsthe attentionof
externalresearchers(Amador2002, Caldern2003). Foran anthropolog-
ical study,a Europeanresearcheradopts the perspectiveof the interest-
ed, but objective ethnographer(Campregher2008). His aim is to study
the relation between the PHED and the indigenous community,to
describe it as objectivelyand uncompromisingly as possible, and to
explainthe actor's positionsor discoursesin sociologicaltermswithref-
erenceto conceptsand theories.Thisallows himto describethe ongoing
negotiationfroma differentangle than both the developmentagents
and the opponents.
The ADI-Trrabais, as the membersof the PHED already mentioned,
the legal representationof Trraba. Its leading committeeis elected by
its members,but- so the criticssay- has been unchangedforfourcon-
secutiveperiods.Althoughonlya relativelysmall partof Trraba'sadult
populationis affiliatedto thisorganization,itsleaders claimto represent
the whole community.Besides ADI-Trraba,thereexistabout ten other

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groups, which call themselves "civil organizations." They constitute

themselves formally as associations and for the most part recruit their
supporters among kin members. The majority of their speakers are sen-
ior male heads of central households of these extended families. In coop-
eration with external organizations and support programs they organize
environmental projects, educational workshops, the production of hand-
icraft,and other communal activities. They are activists in indigenous
organizations, and participate in national or international activities,
meetings, and conferences. While the ADI sometimes tried to cooperate
with the PHED, at least when they felt doing so could strengthen their
own positions or bring benefits in exchange, the majority of the civil
groups reject the PHED.
The relation between these civil groups is itself characterized by ten-
sions and rivalry.Althoughfor the most part they reject both the ADI and
the PHED in favor of more radical indigenous politics which demand the
recognition of indigenous rights and autonomy as stated in the ILO
Convention169, they hardlysucceed in joining stable alliances or in choos-
ing either a common spokesperson or a unified organization. Rather,they
preferto maintain their separate associations in which they work along
familyaffiliationsin separate projects with the same aims. Only in some
cases do theyjoin in strategicalliances in favor or against specific topics.
The negotiation between the PHED and Trraba reflectsthese unstable
dynamics and includes a multitude of groups, persons, and their rivalries.
This complex political situation is the outcome of a historical process.
According to Henri Pittier (Gatschet 1894:218), who visited the region of
today's Buenos Aires at the end of the 19th century,Trraba at that time
was a small settlement of people fromdifferentethnic groups, who were
originallytaken to this place by Franciscan missionaries. In this conglom-
erate of different cultures, the Teribes or Trrabas, which originally
inhabited the north-westcoast of Panama, were the biggest group, which
in turn gave the settlement its name. The influence of the Catholic church
and its priests, who lived among the Trrabas, and of mestizo migrants
from Northern Panama, had the consequence that this "newly created"
indigenous group did not develop any coherent political organization that
could unite the whole communityto act collectively against intruders.
In the 1970s, the Teribes therefore rapidly adopted the legal ADI-
structurewhich was introduced by the state, followed by conflicts about
its leadership and membership in which indigenous and non-indigenous

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 CHRISTOPH
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groups confronted each other. Nevertheless, this institutionproved to be

hardly adequate and ineffectivefor the defense of the indigenous com-
munity's rightsand interests before the state and non-indigenous settlers
(Guevara & Chacn 1992). As a result of the growing acknowledgment of
indigenous peoples' rights in international human rights debates and
new possibilities through development cooperation, some indigenous
leaders in Trraba began to dissent from the ADI and create their own
indigenous associations. Originallycreated as a necessary preliminaryto
entering into cooperation with outside NGOs, these associations today
represent the most common form of political organization. Although
they are registered formallyas civil associations, in the majority of cases
their members recruit from the extended family of these founders. So,
they can be interpreted as a new type of organization that is simultane-
ously the result of processes of both resistance (Scott 1985), as they devel-
oped in opposition to the state's politics, and adaption to developing
relations with international civil society.
Given the limited possibilities for economic enterprise in Trraba, the
establishment of an indigenous association can be interpretedas a prom-
ising alternative for indigenous families that allows them to attract proj-
ect cooperations, donations, or fundingwhile maintaining a critical posi-
tion when confrontedwith the state's institutions.As a consequence, each
of these family associations fulfill political and economic functions for
their members as well as for the community(Campregher 2008:99).
In the same manner, some indigenous leaders' resistance to the PHED
can be seen as part of a strategyof adaption to the emergence of other
kinds of intervention, for example, to environmental or human rights
NGOs, whose interests are more compatible with indigenous ones. The
same can be said for the actual ADI-leadership. These politicians adapted
to the possibilities and institutional environment of the state structure
and thereforeresistany political project that could bringabout change in
this institutionalarrangement. That is why they heavily oppose and dele-
gitimize any other indigenous association or legal measures and reforms
that would change the existing structure.
The researcher perceives the political negotiation process between the
PHED and the indigenous communityas an arena in which various actors
with contradicting interestsand strategies confronteach other. Based on
his case study he concludes that the perception of development interven-
tions by affected populations is shaped by local necessities, existing con-

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ShiftingPerspectiveson Development: An Actor-Network
Studyof a Dam in Costa Rica

flicts,historicexperience,and envisionedalternativesto this interven-

tion."Communities" or "cultures"are notclosed,autonomouslyfunction-
ingsystemswhichprojectsintervenein fromthe outside.Rather,theyare
assemblies of actors that tend to extend their relationswith external
actors and across geographical boundaries. Actorsin a development
arena adapt theirstrategiesand discoursesin orderto encourageinter-
ventionsbypowerful,externalpartners.Simultaneously theyoppose and
resistinterventionsthatcould countertheirinterestsor weaken existing
coalitionsand partnerships.

IIUV Mediators,Translation,and theActorNetworkPHED

We have adopted threedistinctperspectivesto describedifferent aspects
of the complexrelationshipbetweenthe PHEDand Trraba.Each one of
themhas itsown focus.It highlights certainaspects and elements,while
it neglectsothersand so leads to differentquestions.The threeapproach-
es are builton different epistemologicalfoundations.Adoptinga relativist
or relationalstandpoint,I decline to judge whichone of themwould be
more "correct,"as that would mean to a prioripreferone of them.
Instead,I suggestwe ask howthese perspectivescan be connected,keep-
ing in mind"how different framesof referenceare used to analyze the
'same' events,reflecting the differentpositionsof the actorsinvolvedin
the events themselvesand in their documentation"(Lewis & Mosse
2006:8). As in the case of development,the subjectitselfis constitutedby
the interpretations, definitions,and representations that are developed
byitsactors(Mosse2005). These representations changeaccordingto the
standpoint of the observer and they are shaped byeach one of them.So,
whatdo all theactors'representations have in commonand howcan their
perspectivesbe combined?
Let us observethe practiceof the actors in reverseorderas we trace
the actor-network PHED. The European researchercomes to investigate
the projectand the community. He participatesin and observesmeetings
and village life in Trraba. He interviewsand converseswiththose per-
sons who he believes to be keyactors,or moregenerally,who seem to
know more about the projectthan the average villager.Togetherwith
relatedobservations, theirstatementsare comparedto otherstudieswith
the aim of identifyingcontradictionsor similarities.Based on this
method,he formulatesgeneralizationsand statementsin the languageof
hisdiscipline.Atthe beginningofthejourney,hisaim is to studythe com-

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 CHRISTOPH
CAMPREGHER

munityand to transformthis experience into a scientifictext. Everycon-

tact he makes and every interview he undertakes changes his interestand
the outcome of his study. At the end of this process, his original interest
is associated with those of a series of actors, who influenced the course of
his investigation. It is transformedand translated (Calln and Law 1982).
The resulting text constitutes an actor-network in the sense that it inte-
grates the information,opinions, and perspectives of a series of persons.
It speaks in the name of and contains the voices of a larger set of actors.
Finally, the study is the end product of a chain of translation (Latour
1999), which produces a representation of what happens between a huge
number of persons and things in one part of the world, and introduces it
into the discourses at universities in differentplaces.
Indigenous village politicians are by themselves central elements of
differentchains. They need to establish relations with external institu-
tions in order to become relevant as representatives of the community.
They need to translate the multitude of persons and interests into a uni-
fied representation of the "indigenous community." Therefore they need
to use concepts and notions which are understood by external agents: The
villagers become the indigenous community.Their environment is trans-
lated into natural resources and these, in turn, will be associated with
other elements, such as the rightsstated in the ILO Convention 169. These
representations necessarily take the form of concepts that can be under-
stood and utilized by external institutionsand organizations. They need
to be understandable and compatible with the languages and discourses
of these institutionsin order to be recognized. Communication requires a
series of shared cultural representations, which allow actors to relate or
to integrate the differentinterests of, for example, indigenous peasants
and environmental NGOs.
Indigenous activistswho do not use this language and its concepts will
not be heard.8Theywill stay invisible elements of the assemblage that con-
stitutesthe communityand is represented by others. To be relevant in the
development arena implies the use of notions of its specificjargon (Escobar
1995), although they may representverydifferentvisions than those of the
powerful institutions.Being an indigenous representative then means to
talk about development, to be foror against the PHED, to protectthe envi-
ronmentand to representa very distinctculture. Only when a person suc-
ceeds in connecting elements from the economic, legal, social, cultural,
and ecological sphere utilizinga specific vocabulary, only then she or he

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ShiftingPerspectiveson Development: An Actor-NetworkStudyof a Dam in Costa Rica

will be able to fulfilla representativefunction.These features,however,can

be interpretedas the resultof a specificnetworkingprocess in which indige-
nous leaders, supporters,and opponents mutuallyadapt to each other. In
other words, while indigenous representatives appear to be politically
engaged, critical of development, conservationist, independently of any
context, it is ratherbecause of the interactionswith a networkof external
actors that theyadopt and develop these features. In the same way,similar
features we attributeto indigenous cultures, peoples, or communities are
the product of networksthat cross boundaries between nations, between
the local and the global, or between thingsand humans.
The social scientists employed by the PHED mediate between the thou-
sands of people that are affected by the project directlyor indirectly,and
the few bureaucrats and engineers who design and plan it. They visit vil-
lages, speak to interested persons, and organize events and meetings
where they informpeople about the project. In their offices,they receive
the project plans and directivesas writtentexts,or in other words, as writ-
ten representationsof an envisioned future. Part of their work is to trans-
late these texts into a language understandable forthe population and to
sort out the elements that are most relevant forthe affected. At the same
time, they research the villages they visit. For project headquarters, they
need to transformtheir experiences again into written texts, much like
the independent anthropologist but under differentconditions. The real-
ity of the rural population needs to be transformed into writtenwords,
numbers, statistics, photographs, and maps. They become central ele-
ments in a chain that transformssocial realityinto useful informationthat
can be integrated into the project's plans and models.
In both directions, the informationthat flows along this chain is simul-
taneously reduced and amplified (Rottenburg2009). The executives of the
PHED cannot visit each village and each familyin the project area in order
to get a picture of the complex realityby themselves. They depend on the
representationsthat the project's employees produce in the formof state-
ments and statistics,necessary to combine it with informationfromother
relevant areas such as finances, geology or law, among others. Conversely,
the affected people cannot study every detail of the project's plans and
targets. The peasant family that worries about its home and its ground,
needs to know what the project signifiesforit. In both directions,the soci-
ologists and anthropologists reduce, select and amplify the information
that crosses their small offices,according to more or less stable criteria.

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 CHRISTOPH
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These development agents, in turn, depend on the work of mediators

such as the indigenous representatives. In their effortto establish a dom-
inant representation of what is going on, every one of them depends on
translatorswho speak in the name of the larger group of persons who live
there (Latour 1999). Otherwise, they would have to pass by every single
house to talk to every single household member. Some indigenous repre-
sentatives are recognized by them and enabled to speak for the group.
They become relevant if they are able to express concerns of the commu-
nity in relation to the project. Their words find a way into the
researchers' reportswhere they are re-represented.As they associate with
the project's agents or outside supporters, the indigenous leaders become
relevant and important to the project; simultaneously, the project starts
to form part of the community's concerns.
In the negotiation that precedes the construction of the dam, all of
these spokespersons struggle to establish representations that aim to
define the development of the dam. They intend to become obligatory
points of passage (Calln 1986) for the others in the network of human
and non-human allies. No indigenous activist can ignore the PHED if he or
she cares to be relevant as a spokesperson forthe community.Nor can the
PHED ignore the activists if it wants to establish a relation with the indige-
nous population. In the same way, the project needs to enroll an even
larger number of actors to become a stable actor-networkby itself: finan-
cial institutions,politicians, national and foreign firms,engineers, con-
structionworkers, among others. Their multitude of interests have to be
translated during this process of association and enrollment (Calln 1986),
and the independent researcher needs to write a text that assembles all
of them in order to conclude his research and to relate it to the discours-
es of his discipline.

IV. Conclusion
How much does the approach of this case study contribute to the devel-
opment of anthropology? By integratingthe anthropologist as the object
of analysis into our ethnographic field studies (what we might call the
STS turn), we highlight, first, the way he or she generates knowledge
while "circumstantially muddling through" (Marcus 2001:527) the field,
and second, how his or her cultural representations relate to those of
other actors. Drawing on concepts fromActor-NetworkTheory, I focused

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ShiftingPerspectiveson Development: An Actor-NetworkStudyof a Dam in Costa Rica

on the relation between central actors in the case study, their discours-
es, and the main theoretical approaches in the anthropological study of
development. By foregrounding this relation in the text, I challenged
commonplace distinctions between scientific knowledge and the beliefs
or interpretations of the actors/informantsin the field. The result is a
multi-sitedethnography of development (Marcus 1995). One in which the
author starts to appear in the text, different(positioned) approaches are
combined, and we see how multiple actors construct the object of study
in the field. Combining and shiftingtheir differentperspectives avoids
one-sided accounts and allows us to provide a thicker description of
development in a local context.
Actors in a development arena which appear to have differentcultural
backgrounds- development agents, indigenous village politicians, and
the foreign researcher- do not necessarily act corresponding to different
cultural values. They do not belong to seperate "lifeworlds" (Arce and
Long 2000) or "worlds of knowledge" (Long 1989, Rossi 2006). Rather can
we show how these differentactor groups interact and how they mutual-
ly define each other's identities. Actor-NetworkTheory and the concept of
chains of translation not only avoid the establishment of apparently sep-
arated cultural spheres, they highlightthe processes in which actors trans-
formand translate differentand contraryinterestsin order to make them
compatible (Latour 1999).
The approaches of the three main groups in our case study have been
identified as elements in such chains of translations and I showed how
each one of them builds or even depends on the others in order to gath-
er, translate, and pass on information.As a consequence of their network-
ing activities (and even opposition or rejection implies the acknowledg-
ment and recognition of the other), all of them (development workers,
indigenous activists, and the researcher) increase their importance, no
matter if in the end the dam will be constructed, or not. Others (ordinary
community members, who engage less or only indirectlyin village poli-
tics) are re-represented by our main actors and their particular opinions,
considerations, and sorrows are translated into more general statements.
The studyof representationas proposed in this text may help to overcome
the resistance and adaptation/accomodation framework (Marcus 1995)
that has organized not only conventional research on indigenous peoples,
but also a considerable body of development studies (Escobar 1995,
Ferguson 1997b, Sachs 1992, Scott 1985).

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 CHRISTOPH
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While the chains of translation in STS usually appear to work well, in

the context of development they are controversial and contested. All our
actor groups have to strugglewith the riskthat the ones who follow in the
chain might question the representations they produce. These moments
become apparent when, for example, leading executives of the PHED
doubt that a small indigenous village could really stop their project, or
when they question the difficultyof findinga common representative or
committee that could speak for the community.
In indigenous Trraba, the community's differentfactions question the
legitimacy of their political speakers and thereby avoid the constitution
of a unified political representative body. Legal, economical, social, and
symbolical resources are mobilized in order to establish stable forms of
political representation. The study of representation as chains of transla-
tion as in the present case study may contribute to the ongoing debate on
indigeneity (Barnard 2006, Kuper 2003) and its political implications.
Finally,I hope to have shown that an empirical anthropology of represen-
tation which traces how concepts and their boundaries are produced and
translated by the very people we study and, at the same time, by our-
selves, is an important step towards a more symmetricalanthropology. It
expands what is in our ethnographic picture of the world by including the
fieldworkerand the research practice.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am gratefulto ChristianWawrinecand Michael Brendan Donegan for editing and
commentingon the text.Gabriele Habingerand PatriciaZuckerhutprovidedassistance
in the edition of an earlier Germandraftof this study.I am also gratefulto Elke Mader,
Georg Grnberg,and Andre Gingrichfor their help and advice. The research for the
case study was possible thanks to financial support from the Austrian Ministryof
Education and the Universityof Vienna. Last but not least, I want to thank the people
"in the field,"especially Digna and Enrique Riverain Trraba, as well as BorisGamboa,
JimmyGonzalez, and JorgeCole Villalobos of the PHED, who dedicated time, allowed
me to participatein theirmeetings,and shared their"perspectives" with me. Needless
to say,all errorsof fact and interpretationremain myown.

ENDNOTES
1Spanish: ProyectoHidroelctricoEl Diqus (PHED).
2Spanish: InstitutoCostarricensede Electricidad(ICE).
3The followingreport is a summaryof statements by members of the Departmentof
Social Investigation [rea Sodai) from a series of interviews undertaken between

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 AnActor-
on Development:
Perspectives
Shifting Studyofa Dam inCostaRica
Network

Septemberand Novemberof 2006. It is not a quotation but a paraphrased summaryof

their statements about the relation between the PHED and Trraba. (Instituto
Costarricense de Electricidad. Members of the Social Department [Area Social]-
Conversationof 13.09.2006 in Buenos Aires.)
4Spanish:Asociacin de Desarrollo Integral(ADI).
5CostaRican Law 6172 of 1977.
6The Convention 169 (Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples) of the
InternationalLabour Organisation(ILO) published in 1989 is the most importantlegal
referenceabout the rightsof indigenouspeoples at the internationallevel. It came into
force in 1991 after the ratificationby Norway and Mexico. Costa Rica signed the
Conventionin 1992. Accordingto Article7 of its constitution,internationalconven-
tions are superiorto national laws.
7lnCosta Rica, the Supreme Court"Saia IV" has supreme jurisdictionover constitution-
al cases. People can address the Sala IV when their fundamentalconstitutionalrights
are violated by legislativeor administrativemeasures. This legal action is called "recur-
"
so de amparo.
8Asshown bythe example of an older Teribewho stood up in a village assemblyin order
to tell the participantsthat god revealed to him that the dam would not be built ifcer-
tain religiouspracticeswere obeyed. The main part of the persons present,including
the members of human rightsNGOs, ignored the statement which obviously were
incompatiblewiththe discourse at work,although in another contextthe same state-
mentwould have been legitimate.The discussioncontinuedusingargumentsthat in our
(thatmeans the Occident's modern)understandingappear to be more "rational."

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