Spaces of Contention: Examining Urban and Rural Responses to the Nicaraguan Grand Canal

In June 2013, the Nicaraguan government granted the Chinese firm HKND a 50-year concession to build an interoceanic canal across Nicaragua. More than twice as big as the recently enlarged Panama Canal, the $40 billion Grand... [ view full abstract ]

In June 2013, the Nicaraguan government granted the Chinese firm HKND a 50-year concession to build an interoceanic canal across Nicaragua. More than twice as big as the recently enlarged Panama Canal, the $40 billion Grand Canal would be the largest civil earthmoving project in Latin American history. While scholars and politicians have been debating the economic potential and environmental impacts of the canal, other responses have increasingly become spatial. Rural campesinos living near the planned route have been the most fervent critics, organizing more than 60 mobilizations against the mega-project. Some of these protests have been highly contested by government supporters, the Sandinista Youth, and the national police. In the Atlantic Coast, Miskito communities have also voiced their discontent towards the canal. This research delves into the scaling and spatiality of different reactions to the canal. How is each group’s contention for or against the canal spatialized, what are the interactions and disconnections between these responses, and how does this affect their potential to shift scale?