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.

Rutgerd Boelens is Professor of Water Governance and Social Justice with the Department of Environmental Sciences at Wageningen University and Professor of Political Ecology of Water in Latin America with CEDLA (Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation) and the University of Amsterdam. He is also visiting professor at the Catholic University of Peru and coordinates the international Justicia Hídrica/Water Justice alliance. His work focuses on water rights, water grabbing, hydrosocial territories, legal pluralism, cultural politics, governmentality and social mobilisation.

Tom Perreault is Professor of Geography at Syracuse University, New York. His research examines the intersections of political ecology, resource governance, agrarians transformation, and indigenous and campesino social mobilisation in the central Andes and western Amazon. His research has been funded by Fulbright, the Inter-American Foundation, the United Nations and the US National Science Foundation.

Jeroen Vos is Assistant Professor of Water Governance at the Department of Water Resources Management at Wageningen University, The Netherlands where he teaches on agricultural water governance and political ecology of water. As a water policy advisor he has also worked in Peru and Bolivia with different international development organisations. His current research interests are the dynamics and discourses of water use and governance by agribusinesses in Latin America.