中國快速的經濟成長導致電力需求大增，也使得水力發電在中國能源部門的策略中占有一席之地。雲南省因其龐大的水力發電量而成為中國東南沿岸的重要電力供應者。然而，雲南不只擁有重要的礦產與水資源，許多貧窮的少數民族更以此為家。儘管水力發電的開發可能會改善雲南居民的社會經濟地位與生活條件，但所造成的環境破壞與大規模搬遷仍然嚴重影響了當地社區的生活。為了呈現雲南水電開發的動態過程，本文透過James Scott的架構檢視中國西南地區水電開發的演變。儘管中國水力發電的政治變化反映出威權體制的調適能力，但造成嚴重社會與環境影響的大型水壩建造計畫仍持續進行。過去，中央政治領導人主導這些發展計畫，現在則由地方政府與電力公司掌握決策權，顯示中國政府的決策過程為一種割裂的狀態。

China's rapid economic growth has led to a dramatic increase in electricity demand. This is one of the reasons why hydropower is now playing a major role in China's energy sector strategy, turning Yunnan Province with its huge hydropower reserves into a crucial power supplier for the country's booming eastern and southern coastal regions. However, Yunnan does not only have important mineral and water resources. The province is also home to a high number of ethnic minorities mainly living in poverty. While hydropower development has the potential to improve Yunnan's low social-economic status and ameliorate the living conditions of the local population, the environmental damage and the large scale resettling processes that are caused by hydropower development projects severely impact the lives of local communities. In order to show how these dynamics play out in the process of hydropower development in Yunnan, this article examines the evolution of hydropower development in Southwest China through the lens of James Scott's framework for explaining tragic consequences of large-scale development schemes. While the changes that have been taking place in China's hydropower politics are evidence of the adaptive capacity of China's authoritarian regime, large dams with severe social and environmental implications are still being planned and constructed in China today. These development projects used to be driven by China's central political leaders, but nowadays, much of the decision-making power rests with local governments and hydropower companies, highlighting the fragmented state of China's policy-making.