In Chapter 5, Nixon addresses the concept of “virtual uninhabitants” (153), which is similar to that of “development refugees” (152) and unimagined communities. Virtual uninhabitants are groups of Indigenous peoples who reside in areas characterized by developers as empty spaces devoid of human culture. Megadams represent an especially poignant example of developers and their home countries (often more economically developed countries) denying the rights of inhabitants living along rivers.

Nixon documents “five main strategies [that] have been used to deny the rights of ‘hydrological zone’ inhabitants” (163). The first is forced removal of the inhabitants with direct violence. The second is a rhetorical appeal to inhabitants that their sacrifice “is for the greater good” (163). The third strategy is the use of indirect violence by labeling the inhabitants as “development refugees” (163) before the project begins, making the inhabitants invisible in their own ancestral home. Fourth, developers will dismiss rights by saying that the inhabitants are culturally inferior. Finally, developers will enforce the Western notion of private property to negate ancestral claims. Most inhabitants in economically developing countries do not have title deeds to their ancestral land. Developers exploit this fact to assert that the property does not belong to them.