The Water War?: Coca, Structural Adjustments and Water in Cochabamba, Bolivia

In the period between 4th of November 1999 and 10th of April 2000 Cochabamba, Bolivia and its surrounding areas saw multiple protests wanting to cancel the contract that the Bolivian government had signed with Aguas del Tunari. This contract encompassed the privatization of the municipal water and sewage company Servicio Municipal de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado and the Misicuni Project. The contract is often referred to as the Misicuni Multipurpose Project. This book is asking if there were other underlying factors affecting the protest or if the protest was only against the Misicuni Multipurpose Project. The book found several factors contributing to the protest. To reinforce these conceptual factors the thesis is asking a second question, if there is a possibility to find knowledge about the social movements that were involved and if we some how can differentiate between two ideal types, old social movements and new social movements. Adapting the theory of new social movements the book, mean to reinforce the idea of multiple motivations for protest against the Misicuni Multipurpose Project.

Arild Soldal finished his Master of Science at the University of Bergen in 2006. He now works with private companies, NGOs and governmental organizations dealing with climate change, carbon credits and renewable energy.