Challenging the risks-based model of involuntary resettlement using evidence from the Bui Dam, Ghana

Abstract

The Impoverishment, Risks and Reconstruction (IRR) model is arguably the most significant conceptualization of involuntary resettlement to date, strengthening the praxis of the major international financial institutions. Even so, resettlement remains synonymous with impoverishment. While commonly attributed to the failure of governments to properly implement resettlement plans, this article finds that the assumptions embedded in the IRR model are contributory. Based on interviews and focus groups at the Bui Dam resettlement in 2016, the model is useful for identifying material losses, but fails to illuminate more complex social fragmentation, extra-local dynamics and relationships of power.