Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only].

Water development projects punctuate the landscapes of the rural South where water sector reforms are endlessly pursued. On the one hand, these new projects and reforms emerge on the ground that they enhance rural livelihoods and are central for food production and sound use of natural resources. On...

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Autores principales: Venot, Jean-Philippe, Clement, Floriane
Formato: Conference Paper
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38714
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author Venot, Jean-Philippe
Clement, Floriane
author_browse Clement, Floriane
Venot, Jean-Philippe
author_facet Venot, Jean-Philippe
Clement, Floriane
author_sort Venot, Jean-Philippe
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Water development projects punctuate the landscapes of the rural South where water sector reforms are endlessly pursued. On the one hand, these new projects and reforms emerge on the ground that they enhance rural livelihoods and are central for food production and sound use of natural resources. On the other hand, the social and environmental inequalities they can induce are often not properly anticipated or recognized. When acknowledged, these effects are attributed to shortcomings in implementation; the remedy is said to be further reforms and projects. In this way, water projects have locked themselves into a 'business as usual' approach, which we argue is unlikely to succeed in delivering equitable water access and control. We do so by investigating the links between procedural (which say do water users have in water development projects?) and distributive justice (how are the benefits distributed?), based on case studies of large irrigation infrastructures in Western India and small reservoirs in West Africa and Eastern India. We draw from the fields of political ecology, development and governance studies and combine institutional and discourse analysis to understand the realities of water projects and their environmental justice dimension. We defend that water projects are grounded in environmental and development narratives that are co-produced by science and policy. Those narratives wield notions of sustainability and justice as universal, hence 'black-boxing' the realities of water resources management. Crucially, and in contrast with the new vocabulary of development, they continue to regard intended beneficiaries as 'recipients' rather than actors with agency. Water projects induce new and multiple claims over resources thus influencing the distribution of goods and bads and related perceptions of justice. Global environmental justice discourses need to recognize that the fairness of any intervention is shaped by, and depends on, the vantage point considered to effectively address current issues of inequality.
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spelling CGSpace387142025-03-11T09:50:20Z Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only]. Venot, Jean-Philippe Clement, Floriane water resources water governance case studies Water development projects punctuate the landscapes of the rural South where water sector reforms are endlessly pursued. On the one hand, these new projects and reforms emerge on the ground that they enhance rural livelihoods and are central for food production and sound use of natural resources. On the other hand, the social and environmental inequalities they can induce are often not properly anticipated or recognized. When acknowledged, these effects are attributed to shortcomings in implementation; the remedy is said to be further reforms and projects. In this way, water projects have locked themselves into a 'business as usual' approach, which we argue is unlikely to succeed in delivering equitable water access and control. We do so by investigating the links between procedural (which say do water users have in water development projects?) and distributive justice (how are the benefits distributed?), based on case studies of large irrigation infrastructures in Western India and small reservoirs in West Africa and Eastern India. We draw from the fields of political ecology, development and governance studies and combine institutional and discourse analysis to understand the realities of water projects and their environmental justice dimension. We defend that water projects are grounded in environmental and development narratives that are co-produced by science and policy. Those narratives wield notions of sustainability and justice as universal, hence 'black-boxing' the realities of water resources management. Crucially, and in contrast with the new vocabulary of development, they continue to regard intended beneficiaries as 'recipients' rather than actors with agency. Water projects induce new and multiple claims over resources thus influencing the distribution of goods and bads and related perceptions of justice. Global environmental justice discourses need to recognize that the fairness of any intervention is shaped by, and depends on, the vantage point considered to effectively address current issues of inequality. 2010 2014-06-13T11:42:44Z 2014-06-13T11:42:44Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38714 en Limited Access Venot, Jean-Philippe; Clement, Floriane. 2010. Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only]. Paper presented at the Workshop on Global Environmental Justice: Towards a New Agenda?, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 2-3 July 2010. 2p.
spellingShingle water resources
water governance
case studies
Venot, Jean-Philippe
Clement, Floriane
Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only].
title Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only].
title_full Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only].
title_fullStr Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only].
title_full_unstemmed Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only].
title_short Assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south: a co-exploration of institutions and myths. [Abstract only].
title_sort assessing the environmental justice of water projects and reforms in the rural south a co exploration of institutions and myths abstract only
topic water resources
water governance
case studies
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/38714
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