Past futures and future memories. The Vajont dam case study

Abstract

On the night of October 9, 1963, an enormous landslide collapsed in the Vajont Dam hydroelectric basin. The resulting wave impacted the communities of Longarone, Codissago, Erto, and Casso, along with their living environments. The affected area underwent drastic changes, although significant transformations had already been underway for some years. The wave accelerated this process. The introduction of a hydroelectric infrastructure system was presented as an alternative to a crisis in the economic and social world of the Italian mountain region – a crisis that this politics contributed to generate. Drawing upon ethnographic and historical research conducted in the valley and collected testimonies, this article analyzes the transformation of the Vajont Dam from a symbol of the national modernization project to a focal point of memory in narrative and monumentalization practices.