During the later twentieth century, Brazil's right-wing military dictatorship built a vast network of hydropower dams that became one of the world's biggest low-carbon electricity grids. Weighed against these carbon savings, what were the costs? Johnson unpacks the social and environmental implications of this project, from the displacement of Indigenous and farming communities to the destruction of Amazonian biodiversity. Drawing on rich archival material from forty sites across Brazil, Paraguay, and the United States, including rarely accessed personal collections, Johnson explores the story of the military officers and engineers who created the dams and the protestors who fought them. Brazilian examples are analyzed within their global context, highlighting national issues with broad consequences for both social and environmental justice. In our race to halt global warming, it is vital that we learn from past experiences and draw clear distinctions between true environmentalism and greenwashed political expedience.

‘Hydropower in Authoritarian Brazil addresses a wide range of issues central to the environmental humanities, in prose that is nuanced and engaging. Based on extensive research in Brazil, this landmark book debunks authoritarian environmentalism and explores the often devastating effects of hydroelectric dams. They generated low-carbon electricity but had severe social and environmental consequences, especially for Brazil’s Indigenous communities. Highly recommended.’

David E. Nye - University of Minnesota

‘Hydropower in Authoritarian Brazil is an exciting, engaging blend of environmental and energy history. Matthew P. Johnson shows not just the justifications and injustices of hydropower, but frames the politics and ecological consequences of low-carbon energy production in the past – in ways important for the future.’

Bathsheba Demuth - Brown University

‘Hydropower in Authoritarian Brazil is a well-researched, lucid, and insightful history that is crucial to understanding how the Great Acceleration transpired in parts of the world under authoritarian rule. It also reveals that low carbon cannot be the sole criterion of sustainability, as the environmental impacts of energy systems need to be assessed in the full cycle of their ecological, social, and territorial interactions.’

José Augusto Pádua - Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

‘Hydropower in Authoritarian Brazil is a compelling demonstration that whether dams are good and bad cannot be answered without studying how they are built. Drawing on rich case studies from Brazil’s military dictatorship, Matthew P. Johnson illustrates the dangers of authoritarian environmentalism in which the rights of rural residents, Indigenous populations, and non-human actors are sacrificed in the name of progress. Well written and cogently argued, it is a welcome contribution for those interested in energy, technology, and sustainable futures.’

Christopher F. Jones - Arizona State University

‘A painstaking historical inspection of five of the world’s largest dams, Hydropower in Authoritarian Brazil confronts a military regime bent on proving its legitimacy with outsized symbols of modernity. Johnson offers readers an incisive accounting of each project’s manifold costs and explains why democracy’s return promptly terminated Brazil’s era of big dams.’

Shawn W. Miller - Brigham Young University