This doctoral project examines processes of transnational cooperation and regional integration through large-scale infrastructure projects, using the example of the binational hydroelectric power plant Salto Grande on the Uruguay River. The overarching research question is: How did the binational hydroelectric project Salto Grande influence institutional, political, and economic development as well as regional integration in the Río de la Plata Basin in the second half of the 20th century, and what insights can be drawn from it for understanding transnational infrastructure projects in Latin America?
The study addresses the development of institutional structures and mechanisms that emerged during the planning and construction of the dam. It investigates how conflicts between the involved actors were negotiated and what role the project played in the creation of bi- and multinational institutions that contributed to regional integration.
The dissertation pursues three main objectives: First, to analyze how regional integration was achieved through small-scale forms of cooperation and the institution-building required for conflict resolution in infrastructure projects. Second, to highlight binational infrastructure projects as productive probes for transnational history. Third, to emphasize the role of the 1970s as a key decade in Latin American contemporary history, using the lens of infrastructure and energy history.
topics: Infrastructure History; Environmental History; Latin American History; Global Energy Politics; Global Cold War; Transnational History.
First Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Klaus Gestwa (Tübingen), Second Supervisor: PD Dr. Frederik Schulze (Münster)
