Water Justice

An overview of critical conceptual approaches to water justice, illustrated with global historic and contemporary case studies of socio-environmental struggles.

Rutgerd Boelens (Edited by), Tom Perreault (Edited by), Jeroen Vos (Edited by)

9781107179080, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 March 2018

392 pages, 10 b/w illus.
25.4 x 17.9 x 2.1 cm, 0.93 kg

''Water justice!' is the rallying cry of this book. It explores in a readable, illuminating and comprehensive way the multiple dimensions of water injustice and the diverse struggles to change these.' Cristóbal Kay, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Water justice is becoming an ever-more pressing issue in times of increasing water-based inequalities and discrimination. Megacities, mining, forestry, industry and agribusiness claim an increasingly large share of available surface and groundwater reserves. Water grabbing and pollution generate poverty and endanger ecosystems' sustainability. Beyond large, visible injustices, the book also unfolds the many 'hidden' water world injustices, subtly masked as 'rational', 'equitable' and 'democratic'. It features critical conceptual approaches, including analysis of environmental, social, cultural and legal issues surrounding the distribution and management of water. Illustrated with case studies of historic and contemporary water injustices and contestations around the world, the book lays new ground for challenging current water governance forms and unequal power structures. It also provides inspiration for building alternative water realities. With contributions from renowned scholars, this is an indispensable book for students, researchers and policymakers interested in water governance, environmental policy and law, and political geography.

1. Introduction: the multiple challenges and layers of water justice struggles Rutgerd Boelens, Jeroen Vos and Tom Perreault
Part I. Re-Politicizing Water Allocation: 2. Water governance as a question of justice: politics, rights and representation Dik Roth, Margreet Zwarteveen, K. C. Joy and Seema Kulkarni
3. Water grabbing: practices of contestation and appropriation of water resources in the context of expanding global capital Gert Jan Veldwisch, Jennifer Franco and Lyla Mehta
4. De-politicized policy analysis: how the prevailing frameworks of analysis slight equity in water governance Andrea K. Gerlak and Helen Ingram
5. Urban water and sanitation injustice: an analytical framework Ben Crow
Part II. Hydrosocial De-Patterning and Re-Composition: 6. '… And not a single injustice remains': hydro-territorial colonization and techno-political transformations in Spain Erik Swyngedouw and Rutgerd Boelens
7. Making space for the Cauca River in Colombia: inequalities and environmental citizenship Renata Moreno-Quintero and Theresa Selfa
8. Reconfiguration of hydrosocial territories and water justice struggles Lena Hommes, Rutgerd Boelens, Bibiana Duarte-Abadía, Juan Pablo Hidalgo and Jaime Hoogesteger
9. Large-scale dam development and counter movements: water justice struggles around Guatemala's Chixoy Dam Barbara Rose Johnston
Part III. Exclusion and Struggles for Co-Decision: 10. Indigenous people and water governance in Canada: regulatory injustice and prospects for reform Karen Bakker, Rosie Simms, Nadia Joe and Leila Harris
11. Sanitation justice? The multiple dimensions of urban sanitation inequalities Maria Rusca, Cecilia Alda-Vidal and Michelle Kooy
12. Uniting diversity to build Europe's water movement Right2Water Jerry van den Berge, Rutgerd Boelens and Jeroen Vos
13. Everyday water injustice and the politics of accommodation Frances Cleaver
14. Sharing our water: inclusive development and glocal water justice in the Anthropocene Joyeeta Gupta
Part IV. Governmentality, Discourses and Struggles over Imaginaries and Water Knowledge: 15. Neoliberal water governmentalities, virtual water trade, and contestations Jeroen Vos and Rutgerd Boelens
16. Critical ecosystem infrastructure: governing the forest-water nexus in the Kenyan Highlands Connor Joseph Cavanagh
17. The meaning of mining, the memory of water: collective experience as environmental justice Tom Perreault
18. New spaces for water justice? Groundwater extraction and changing gendered subjectivities in Morocco's Saïss region Lisa Bossenbroek and Margreet Zwarteveen
19. Conclusions: struggles for justice in a changing water world Tom Perreault, Rutgerd Boelens and Jeroen Vos
Index.

Subject Areas: Hydrology & the hydrosphere [RBK], Environment law [LNKJ], Energy & natural resources law [LNCR], Environmental economics [KCN], International relations [JPS]