Water justice

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.

Introduction : the multiple challenges and layers of water justice struggles / Rutgerd Boelens, Jeroen Vos, Tom Perreault -- Water governance as a question of justice : politics, rights and representation / Dik Roth, Margreet Zwarteveen, K.C. Joy, Seema Kulkarni -- Water grabbing : practices of contestation and appropriation of water resources in the context of expanding global capital / Gert Jan Veldwisch, Jennifer Franco, Lyla Mehta -- De-politicized policy analysis : how the prevailing frameworks of analysis slight equity in water governance / Andrea K. Gerlak, Helen Ingram -- Urban water and sanitation injustice : an analytical framework / Ben Crow -- And not a single injustice remains : hydro-territorial colonization and techno-political transformations in Spain / Erik Swyngedouw, Rutgerd Boelens -- Making space for the Cauca River in Colombia : inequalities and environmental citizenship / Renata Moreno-Quintero, Theresa Selfa -- Reconfiguration of hydrosocial territories and water justice struggles / Lena Hommes, Rutgerd Boelens, Bibiana Duarte-Abadía, Juan Pablo Hidalgo, Jaime Hoogesteger -- Large-scale dam development and counter movements : water justice struggles around …