Social Participation In Water Governance And Management: Critical And Global Perspectives

in water resources management. These authors probe the actual benefits of participation to marginalized people and consider whether and how participation can be transformative rather than tokenism.’ Helen Ingram, University of Arizona and University of California at Irvine ‘It is now largely assumed that participation is a necessary component of good water governance. This book provides a welcome examination of what social participation in water management really means, when it works and, as importantly, when it might not.’ Mark Giordano, International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka S ocial participation in water management and governance recently became a reality in many economies and societies. Yet the dimensions in which power regulation, social equity and democracy-building are connected with participation have been only tangentially analysed for the water sector. Understanding the growing interest in social participation involves appreciating the specificity of the contemporary period within its historic and geographic contexts, as well as uncovering the larger political, economic and cultural trends of recent decades that frame participatory actions. Within a wide variety of cases presented from around the world, the reader will find critical analyses of participation and an array of political ecological processes that influence water governance. Contributions from a diverse group of scholars and practitioners examine water rights definition, hydropower dam construction, urban river renewal, irrigation organizations, water development NGOs, river basin management, water policy implementation and judicial decision-making in water conflicts. Yet there are commonalities in participatory experiences across this spectrum of water issues. The book’s five sections highlight key dimensions of contemporary water management that influence, and in turn are influenced by, social participation. These sections are: participation and indigenous water governance; participation and the dynamics of gender in water management; participation and river basin governance; participation and implementation of water management and participation and the politics of water governance. Kate Berry is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, USA. Eric Mollard is Research Program Director at the Socio-Environmental Dynamics and Resource Governance Research Unit, French Research Institute for Development (IRD) in Montpellier. Social Participation in Water Edited by Governance and Management Berry and Mollard ‘At last, this book recognizes that power differentials are critical to social participation Social Participation in Water Governance and Management Critical and Global Perspectives Earthscan strives to minimize its impact on the environment Water/Natural Resource Management/ Politics, Governance and Law ISBN 978-1-84407-885-1 www.earthscan.co.uk Cover photos: ‘I ♥ H2O?’ © Miles Wathen; ‘Rice’ © Mayumi Terao/istockphoto.com; ‘Lake in the Alps’ © Giorgio Fochesato/istockphoto.com Berry_Mollard_Cvr.indd 1 Edited by Kate A. Berry and Eric Mollard 9 781844 078851 17/11/09 21:40:32 3493 EARTH Social Part in Water.qxd:3493 EARTH Social Part in Water.qxd 20/11/09 Social Participation in Water Governance and Management 10:28 Page i 3493 EARTH Social Part in Water.qxd:3493 EARTH Social Part in Water.qxd 20/11/09 10:28 Page ii 3493 EARTH Social Part in Water.qxd:3493 EARTH Social Part in Water.qxd 20/11/09 Social Participation in Water Governance and Management Critical and Global Perspectives Edited by Kate A. Berry and Eric Mollard London • Sterling, VA 10: