Rethinking river resilience: the lower Orange/Gariep river

Abstract

This article investigates a new dam proposed on the lower Orange/Gariep river at the Vioolsdrift/Noordoewer border between South Africa and Namibia, an arid borderland region vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The proposed dam is employed as both a material object and a boundary concept to contribute to geographical imaginations of this understudied area. By speculatively submerging the concept of resilience in the river, the article revisits the Anthropocene thesis and rethinks resilience theory, revealing a nexus of issues that open questions about the meaning and potential of the term resilience in the context of the climate crisis.