Social Impact Assessment

Projects undertaken without the knowledge of their likely social impacts tend to produce unintended hardships for the local population. In order to preempt such failures, planning agencies, especially international aid agencies, insist on a prior assessment of possible harmful consequences of development interventions, so that corrective actions could be taken well in time. In India, the new National R&R policy 2007 has also mandated that a SIA be carried out whenever either a new project or expansion of an existing project is undertaken. This article provides a short history of the concept, discusses the causes and types of impacts commonly encountered, and then proceeds to describe the SIA process and the participatory social research methodology used in conducting a comprehensive SIA study. The author concludes that despite the many known advantages of SIA, its potential for informed decision-making still remains to be fully realised.

[1]  Marcus B. Lane,et al.  SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT , 1997 .

[2]  India Social Development Report 2008: Development and Displacement , 2008 .

[3]  Peter H. Fricke,et al.  Guidelines and principles for social impact assessment , 1995 .

[4]  Anis A. Dani,et al.  Social analysis sourcebook: incorporating social dimensions into Bank-supported projects , 2003 .

[5]  Thayer Scudder,et al.  The Future of Large Dams: Dealing with Social, Environmental, Institutional and Political Costs , 2005 .

[6]  Hari Mohan Mathur,et al.  The Future of Large Dams: Dealing with Social, Environmental, Institutional and Political Costs , 2008 .

[7]  A. Biswas,et al.  Conducting environmental impact assessment in developing countries. , 1999 .

[8]  Laurence Goldman,et al.  Social impact analysis : an applied anthropology manual , 2000 .

[9]  Conceptual and Methodological Advances in Social Impact Assessment , 2003 .

[10]  K. Asmal.  Dams and development: a new framework for decision-making. The report of the World Commission on dams. , 2000 .

[11]  Krishna Kumar,et al.  Conducting group interviews in developing countries , 1987 .

[12]  Chris Roche,et al.  Impact Assessment for Development Agencies: Learning to Value Change , 1999 .

[13]  Frank Vanclay,et al.  International Principles For Social Impact Assessment , 2003 .

[14]  CONDORCET'S CANAL STUDY: THE BEGINNINGS OF SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT , 1989 .

[15]  R. Schiffer,et al.  INTRODUCTION , 1988, Neurology.

[16]  Kathrin Schreckenberg,et al.  Social assessment of conservation initiatives: a review of rapid methodologies. , 2010 .

[17]  Frank Vanclay,et al.  The International Handbook of Social Impact Assessment: Conceptual and Methodological Advances , 2006 .

[18]  M. Cernea,et al.  Understanding and Preventing Impoverishment from Displacement: Reflections on the State of Knowledge , 1995 .

[19]  T. R. Berger,et al.  Sardar Sarovar : report of the Independent Review , 1992 .

[20]  M. Cernea,et al.  Social assessments for better development : case studies in Russia and Central Asia , 1997 .

[21]  Robert Gramling,et al.  US principles and guidelines Principles and guidelines for social impact assessment in the USA The Interorganizational Committee on Principles and Guidelines for Social Impact Assessment , 2004 .

[22]  Robert Chambers,et al.  Shortcut and participatory methods for gaining social information for projects , 1997 .