Democracy and Global Water Politics in Historical Perspective: Against Water Privatization

Castro, Jose Esteban

This book addresses water privatization from a historical-sociological perspective and argues against the unrelenting imposition of neoprivatist water politics worldwide. Water is essential for life, but it is also a source of economic and political power. Prevailing water politics continues to erode the conditions of dignified living conditions of millions of human beings around the world, including many living in Western capitalist democracies. The book revisits water-related myths, fake truths, and authoritarian practices promoted or employed by International Financial Institutions, governments, and other powerful actors to keep enforcing long-failed policies grounded on ideological dogmas and short-term interests and argues for the substantive democratization of water politics and management. It rejects claims of scientific ‘neutrality’ from academics and other actors across the political spectrum who are co-responsible for the perpetuation of these conditions, interrogating the ethics of scientific-political pragmatism.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2025-01-08

Format: Hardcover

ISBN-13: 9780230212107

DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-31788-9

Dimensions: 210cm x148cm

Pages: 253