For over two decades, large infrastructure development projects have been the subject of major controversies the world over. This book is a comprehensive account of the well-known Sardar Sarovar Project in India and the world-wide campaign against it led by the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

The book attempts to understand the unfurling crisis around the Project in order to develop a comprehensive sociology of development action that goes beyond positivist methods and evaluative frames. It deals with three main research concerns: first, the theoretical focus on actually existing...