Your search found 13 records
1 Bastian, S.; Kottegoda, S.; Orjuela, C.; Uyangoda, J. 2010. Power and politics in the shadow of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict. Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). 136p. (Sida Studies 25)
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 320 G744 BAS Record No: H043699)
http://sidapublications.citat.se/interface/stream/mabstream.asp?filetype=1&orderlistmainid=2891&printfileid=2891&filex=3873767268532
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H043699.pdf
http://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H043699_TOC.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H043699.pdf
http://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H043699_TOC.pdf
(1.00 MB)
The defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009 brought Sri Lanka's 26 year long civil war to an end. It also led to a dramatic change in power relations in the island, where politics and everyday life had for decades been dominated by the conflict between the government forces and the Tamil rebels. Throughout Sri Lanka’s modern history, the nationalist projects of the two main conflict parties have dominated the struggles for – and the analysis of – power. This publication highlights other important aspects of power, while also relating them to the armed conflict. The four chapters make an in-depth investigation of power relations historically as well as in contemporary Sri Lanka. They analyse the interlinkages between power dynamics at the global, national and local level (Orjuela), the power struggles involved in processes of political reform (Uyangoda), the ways in which power in Sri Lankan society is gendered (Kottegoda), and the intersection of politics and the market economy (Bastian). This multi-dimensional power analysis is essential to understand Sri Lanka’s efforts towards post-war reconstruction, and the ways in which outside interventions into conflict resolution and development become part of and transform various power struggles. Although the context in which power is maintained and resisted is in some ways radically new in post-war Sri Lanka, we also see that much of the uneven power relations, as well as the attempts to challenge them, remain and will continue to shape politics and life in Sri Lanka in the future.
2 Steinberg, P. F.; VanDeveer, S. D. 2012. Comparative environmental politics: theory, practice, and prospects. Cambridge, MA, USA: MIT Press. 424p. (American and Comparative Environmental Policy)
Environmental policy ; Environmental conditions ; Politics ; Political parties ; Political institutions ; Non governmental organizations ; Governance ; Federalism ; History ; Climate change ; Greening ; Globalization ; Social mobility ; Water management ; Water supply ; Irrigation systems ; Forests ; Social sciences / Europe / Latin America / Egypt
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 363.7 G000 STE Record No: H044934)
(0.32 MB)
3 Burchell, G.; Gordon, C.; Miller, P. (Eds.) 1991. The Foucault effect: studies in governmentality with two lectures by and an interview with Michel Foucault. Chicago, IL, USA: University of Chicago Press. 307p.
Politics ; Government ; Civil societies ; Social policy ; Mobilization ; Poverty ; Interviews ; Lectures
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 320.011 G000 BUR Record No: H045696)
(0.30 MB)
4 Suhardiman, Diana; Scurrah, N.; Ayemyaing, N. 2021. Scalar politics, power struggles and institutional emergence in Daw Lar Lake, Myanmar. Journal of Rural Studies, 87:32-44. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2021.08.023]
Water management ; Lakes ; Natural resources management ; Governance ; Politics ; Institutions ; Legal pluralism ; Bureaucracy ; Government agencies ; Community involvement ; Fisheries law ; Water scarcity ; Land use ; Local communities ; Villages ; Livelihoods ; Farmers ; Households ; Strategies ; Social aspects / Myanmar / Karen State / Daw Lar Lake
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050609)
(4.44 MB)
This paper looks at scalar politics, power struggles, and institutional emergence in Daw Lar Lake in Karen state, Myanmar. It brings to light tensions between centralized and decentralized approaches in the country’s natural resource governance, and how these are manifested in the current legal stalemate with regard to the formal management status of the lake. Building on earlier research on legal pluralism and critical institutionalism, we look at: 1) how the current legal stalemate with regard to the formal management status of the lake is rooted in ongoing bureaucratic struggles between different government agencies; 2) local communities’ strategies to develop and implement their own vision of lake governance through the formation of the Daw Lar Lake Interim Committee; and 3) the extent to which the Interim Committee is able to mediate diverse and often competing local uses and claims to natural resources at (inter) village level, which are based on a mix of customary and ‘official’ legal entitlements and normative orderings. From a policy perspective, we highlight the need to identify pathways for collective action among and across different groups of resource users, as the latter will be crucial in addressing ongoing resource competition, managing cross-sectoral livelihood impacts and ensuring sustainable lake management.
5 Olumba, E. E.; Nwosu, B. U.; Okpaleke, F. N.; Okoli, R. C. 2022. Conceptualising eco-violence: moving beyond the multiple labelling of water and agricultural resource conflicts in the Sahel. Third World Quarterly, 43(9):2075-2090. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2022.2083601]
Water resources ; Agricultural resources ; Conflicts ; Farmers ; Pastoralists ; Communities ; Violence ; Social groups ; Politics ; State intervention / Sahel
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051216)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01436597.2022.2083601?needAccess=true
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051216.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051216.pdf
(1.47 MB) (1.47 MB)
The conflict over water and agricultural resources within the Sahel of Africa has led to the destruction of lives, property and nature for decades. The extant practice is to label these conflicts with multiple names and conceptualise them as single-issue events. This article illustrates this practice further and highlights some issues associated with such approaches. Existing terms for these conflicts in Africa’s Sahel region are primarily linked to people’s occupations and ethnic identities, distracting efforts to gain a deeper understanding. This view obscures the broad dimensions of these struggles among those competing for water and agricultural resources. Thus, this paper remedies the conceptual gaps by recommending ‘eco-violence’ as an umbrella term for these conflicts and foregrounding the emerging trends of eco-violence within the Sahel region. By referring to these conflicts as eco-violence, we can foster a more inclusive perspective that incorporates social and environmental injustices and political failures as factors related to these conflicts.
6 Browne, K. E. 2022. Rethinking governance in international climate finance: structural change and alternative approaches. WIREs Climate Change, 13(5):e795. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.795]
Climate change adaptation ; Governance ; Public finance ; Climate change mitigation ; Decision making ; Multilateral organizations ; Development organizations ; Public institutions ; Politics ; Policies ; Agreements
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051449)
https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/wcc.795
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051449.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051449.pdf
(3.38 MB) (3.38 MB)
International public finance plays an increasingly prominent role in global efforts to combat climate change and, as it grows, it faces a familiar challenge: governance. Global organizations not only disburse climate funding, but are also expected to ensure the “good governance” of climate programs in recipient countries. Many of these same organizations faced similar challenges in disbursing development finance. In what became known as the “institutionalist turn,” they sought to reform governance and build effective institutions in recipient countries. At first glance, the approach to governance in climate finance appears to be a continuation of these largely ineffective policies. I argue, however, that important structural differences between climate finance and development finance have been overlooked, and that these differences create space for alternatives approaches to governance. I first examine the literature on what led to the ineffectiveness of governance reforms tied to development finance, concluding that global organizations have been consistently unable to recognize and grapple with how power actually works in recipient countries, especially informal power. I then highlight three new principles underlying climate finance: (1) that it is restitution not aid, (2) that recipient countries should control resource allocation, and (3) that funding should support mitigation and adaptation. I demonstrate how each new principle has produced shifts in decision-making authority away from contributors and toward recipient countries. I discuss how alternative approaches could emerge both from forums where recipient countries exercise newfound authority, and from experimentation on the part of multilateral organizations.
7 Shoko, E. 2022. Indigenous conflict management and contemporary water resource governance in rural Zimbabwe. Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, 17(2):225-238. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/15423166221111692]
Conflict management ; Water resources ; Water governance ; Indigenous Peoples' knowledge ; Communities ; Households ; Politics ; Regulations / Zimbabwe / Mhondoro-Ngezi
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051535)
(0.59 MB)
Indigenous conflict management has been a key feature of pre- and post-colonial African societies in managing varied community disputes related to natural resources. In Zimbabwe, the Dare, the traditional court works similarly. However, there have been few insights on the effectiveness of indigenous community-based mechanisms in managing primary water conflicts. The paper argues that although there are widespread and varied water conflicts within the rural setting, the grassroots nature, combined with simple and clear procedures of the traditional court systems makes it a viable option in managing emergent primary water conflicts at the community level. There is a need to synchronise this indigenous community-based conflict management mechanism with the state-run judicial system. However, the operation of the indigenous conflict management mechanism within the framework of competitive African politics has made it vulnerable to political intrusions. Water governance, using traditional court systems would likely benefit from equal gender representation in the decision-making structures.
8 Apraku, A.; Gyampoh, B. A.; Morton, J. F.; Karikari, A. B. 2023. Water security in rural Eastern Cape, SA: interrogating the impacts of politics and climate change. Scientific African, 19:e01493. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01493]
Climate change ; Water security ; Politics ; Water insecurity ; Rural areas ; Water supply ; Livelihoods ; Ecosystems ; Socioeconomic development ; Evaporation ; Water resources ; Water scarcity ; Infrastructure ; Rainwater harvesting ; Precipitation ; Weather / South Africa / Eastern Cape
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051776)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227622003970/pdfft?md5=fcb9284952f7d3bb0061054b37736998&pid=1-s2.0-S2468227622003970-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051776.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051776.pdf
(840.00 MB) (840 KB)
Achieving water security remains one of the central challenges to many developing countries today. According to the South African Water Research Commission, the availability of safe and affordable water is crucial in ensuring a healthy and productive life for all. Despite the national standards set to measure the quality of water in South Africa, the sources and ‘quality standards’ of water in rural Eastern Cape remain a major concern. Based on empirical research with 140 respondents and interactions; this paper highlights that most rural residents in the Eastern Cape still access water from dams, rivers and streams for domestic and agricultural purposes. Again, the availability of water throughout the year is not guaranteed due to changing global climatic conditions with both humans and livestock accessing water from same sources. The paper concludes that climate change and politico-administrative ‘negligence’ compound water insecurity in most of South Africa's rural communities.
9 Moorthy, R.; Bibi, S. 2023. Water security and cross-border water management in the Kabul River Basin. Sustainability, 15(1):792. [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010792]
Water management ; Water Security ; Sustainable development ; Conflicts ; Politics ; Hydroelectric power generation ; River basins ; Freshwater ; Transboundary waters ; International water ; Riparian zones ; Water reservoirs / Pakistan / Afghanistan / Kabul River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051842)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/1/792/pdf?version=1672638536
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051842.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051842.pdf
(0.51 MB) (524 KB)
This paper investigates the collaborative and benefit-sharing approaches to conflict management in the management of cross-border water resources for the sustainable development of the Kabul River Basin riparian states of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The study offers an understanding of water management strategies concerning peace, progress and development, and sustainability. Using an interpretative social science approach, this paper investigates the impacts of water scarcity and stress, hydro-politics, water diplomacy, and water issues among co-riparian countries. It also investigates how cross-border river management impacts river water sustainability and sustainable cross-border water management strategies. The paper finds that the most significant factor in resolving and managing cross-border water disputes is to employ a collective and combined method of water management based on cooperation and benefit-sharing. This is in addition to providing an immediate cost-effective benefit of improving water supply, hydroelectric generation, and agricultural production, as well as future communal and monetary benefits for the public who reside and work the river basin. The paper proposes establishing a combined cross-border basin authority for both Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to effectively realize the benefits of the Kabul River Basin.
10 Hiraide, L. A. 2023. Climate refugees: a useful concept? Towards an alternative vocabulary of ecological displacement. Politics, 43(2):267-282. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957221077257]
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H051933)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/02633957221077257?download=true
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051933.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H051933.pdf
(0.17 MB) (172 KB)
Against the background of climate scepticism and raging anti-immigrant sentiments across Europe, the politics of climate change and the politics of migration are fraught with tension. The two converge over discussions about ‘climate refugees’. But what merit does the term ‘climate refugee’ have, and are there potential problems associated with it? This article pays attention to how racialised discourses underwrite the concept of climate refugees in ways that further exclude already marginalised populations. In place of ‘climate refugees’, it proposes ‘ecological displacement’ as a notion which stresses how and why people are displaced within or across borders. While, indeed, anthropogenic climate change is a real threat to the livelihoods of humans (among other species), it is not the only environmental driver of displacement. By using the term ‘ecology’, this article argues that we allow for a description which encompasses other potential displacement drivers beyond climate change, such as volcanic eruptions, landslides, and political violence. Citing ‘displacement’ makes the term available to populations who are displaced by damaged ecologies both within and across borders, in and outside of Europe. The notion of ‘ecological displacement’ and ‘ecologically displaced people’ tries to rehumanise those carrying the heaviest social and climate burdens on a burning planet.
11 Tran, T. A.; Pittock, J. 2024. When water policies derail livelihood aspirations: farmers’ agency in everyday politics in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. Environmental Sociology, 13p. (Online first) [doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2024.2323601]
Water policies ; Livelihoods ; Politics ; Infrastructure ; Water management ; Freshwater ; Coastal zones ; Local government ; Farmers ; Saline water ; Shrimp culture ; Brackishwater aquaculture ; case studies / Vietnam / Mekong Delta / Ben Tre Province / Binh Dai District / Thanh Tri / Thanh Phuoc
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052717)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23251042.2024.2323601?download=true
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052717.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052717.pdf
(4.63 MB) (4.63 MB)
Development of water infrastructure is conventionally prioritised as a pre-emptive intervention policy to address water challenges. In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta, turning a river into a reservoir is touted as a ‘highly-modernist’ water management approach to secure the year-round supply of freshwater for agricultural production. This paper investigates how contested water-livelihood relations emerged from the building of the Ba Lai sluice scheme in Ben Tre Province, and how these processes demonstrate farmers’ agency in everyday politics in seeking solutions for livelihood sustainability. Drawing on a qualitative case study in Binh Dai District, we argue that, while the scheme successfully fulfils the state’s political intention in securing water supply for freshwater-based crop production in coastal zones, it generates contestation between the local government’s attempts to enforce freshwater policies and farmers’ agency in maintaining productive livelihoods. The findings suggest that power asymmetries are embedded within these water-livelihood relations. We find that seeking just solutions that have co-benefits for water management and livelihood sustainability should go beyond business-as-usual water politics by adequately recognising the agency of farmers in sustainable development. The case study offers lessons for navigating the sustainable future of water development projects in coastal deltas and beyond.
12 Vij, S.; Warner, J. F.; Mehta, A. S.; Barua, A. 2024. Status quo in transboundary waters: unpacking non-decision making and non-action. Global Environmental Change, 85:102821. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102821]
Transboundary waters ; Politics ; Decision making ; Conflicts ; River basins ; Infrastructure / Greece / Turkiye / China / India / Syrian Arab Republic / Iraq / Brahmaputra / Maritsa / Euphrates-Tigris
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052726)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378024000256/pdfft?md5=32b89a139685fde45fa14465197cf21c&pid=1-s2.0-S0959378024000256-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052726.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052726.pdf
(7.67 MB) (7.67 MB)
Transboundary water decision-making takes place in a power-loaded environment. Apart from conflicts or cooperation-based outcomes, partial or complete status quo is also possible outcome in transboundary water interactions. Literature in the last two decades has primarily focused on conflicts and/or cooperation only, with a limited understanding of the status quo and its various forms. Drawing from the work of Bacharach and Baratz and other power scholars from sociology, international relations, and public policy, this article presents tactics for non-decision making and non-action, leading to a status quo. Specifically, we address the question: how can non-decision making and non-action shape the status quo in transboundary waters? Conceptually, based on various strands of literature, we develop a typology of status quo comprised of (1) renunciation; (2) abstention; (3) non-participation; and (4) non-action and showing that the status quo is a significant intermediary (at times temporally extended) outcome in transboundary water interaction. Like conflicts and cooperation, we posit that the status quo is often purposefully maintained due to the political, social, cultural, economic, and biophysical aspects of the river basins. We illustrate this by the example of three transboundary river basins: Brahmaputra, Maritsa, and Euphrates-Tigris. Our empirical analysis also identified an additional type of status quo, ‘non-significant deliberation’ in a multi-track diplomacy setting. This tactic refers to not purposefully allowing informal negotiations to transform or influence the highest level of political deliberation (i.e., track-1 diplomacy).
13 Herbert, S. 2024. Geography of inequality, geography of development: water politics in India. World Development Perspectives, 33:100550. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2023.100550]
Geography ; Water management ; Water supply ; Politics ; Infrastructure ; Irrigation canals ; Gender ; Women / South Asia / India / Kerala
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052731)
(0.48 MB)
Based on fieldwork conducted in Kerala, India, in this article, I focus on the micropolitics of water – both its infrastructure creation and management strategies. I argue that water becomes a means of social control through its role in reproducing existing social hierarchies. Focusing on Jalanidhi, a world-bank-led water management program and connecting this to the history of development in my fieldsite, I show that structural inequalities of caste and gender are inscribed on development and infrastructure geographies. The article highlights the limitations of both left-led and neoliberal ideas of development and necessarily trouble the dominant narrative about Kerala being an alternative to mainstream ideas of development.
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