Mapping access to water resources in Brazil and Nigeria: local dynamics and structures of power
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Date
2016
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AESOP
Abstract
Efforts to sustain the livelihoods of households living in poverty in rural and urban areas have gained popularity in recent decades, from integrated approaches to resource management to devolving control over resources to local actors and supporting the asset strategies of households. However, some approaches to managing water resources, such as IWRM and WDM, have met resistance due to their prioritization of water efficiency over justice (Syme and Nancarrow 2006). Moreover, studies have found that the various projects and reforms are often plagued by elite capture, corruption, mismanagement on one hand (Dasgupta and Beard 2007), unclear or impossible objectives (Biswas 2004), and the rational actions of actors fighting inevitable losses arising from the new winners and losers that emerge from institutional change (Knight 1992).
In seeking to explain the factors shaping access to natural resources, scholars have argued for a better understanding of dynamic processes of social relations and the variations in local structures that shape those relations (Ribot and Peluso 2003, Boone 2013). This paper seeks to explore this question with respect to water resources. What structures and relationships regulate access to water among households living in poverty? What conflicts arise from competing claims on water resources?
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Proceedings of the IV World Planning Schools Congress, July 3-8th, 2016 : Global crisis, planning and challenges to spatial justice in the north and in the south
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