Second Call for Papers 
Association of American Geographers
2008 Annual Meeting, April 15-19th
Boston, MA
 
Water and Development: A Fluid Relationship?
 
Organizers: Farhana Sultana (King's College London) and Jessica Budds (The
Open University)
 
Sponsored by Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group and Water
Resources Specialty Group
 
The relationship between water and development is at the top of the agenda,
in both academic and policy circles.  Much attention has been given to the
ability of water to foster development, largely through the need to extend
access to water - above all drinking water - to poorer groups in low-income
countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.  At the same time, hazards
research has focused on the power of water-related disasters, such as
droughts and floods, to reduce the (potential) benefits of development to
improve lives and livelihoods.  These two elements converge in the idea that
we are in the midst of a 'global water crisis'.
 
Policy research and interventions have mostly focused on the need to improve
the water situation of low-income groups by increasing access to water
through piped systems, and undertaking more effective water resources
management.  These objectives are reflected in the Millennium Development
Goals and Integrated Water Resources Management.  While they are also
increasingly inflected by market-oriented (or 'neoliberal') approaches, they
continue to acknowledge the need for stakeholder and citizen participation.
Such interventions, however, tend to be largely technocratic in nature, and
often fail to interrogate the (problematic) notions of 'water' and
'development' that they are based upon.
 
Recent work, by human geographers in particular, has reconfigured the
relationship between water and society, whereby social power is embedded
within flows of water, rather than external to them.  Such developments have
allowed scholars to use water as a 'lens' through which to explore changing
social relations (inequalities, discourses) and physical space (landscapes,
infrastructure).  These perspectives have given us a fresh insight into the
particular processes through which water has produced, coproduced and
reproduced political ecologies in particular places.  At the same time,
post-development debates have centered on the idea that development may
actually be counter-productive to the ends that it seeks to achieve, which,
themselves, are often guided by 'Western' notions of modernity. 
 
Drawing on these debates, we invite papers that explore and discuss the
multi-faceted relationship between water and development in different
contexts.  In particular, we wish to consider what these new insights can
bring to bear on the multiple and contradictory roles that water plays in
development, in terms of the power relations embedded within it, the
meanings and discourses that are produced and mobilized, the styles of
governance that are adopted, and the material outcomes of development
interventions.  Paper can address, but are not limited to, the following:
.         How have notions of a global water crisis influenced water
politics and development initiatives?
.         What role has water's symbolic dimensions played in challenging
and/or reconfiguring development schemes, such as privatization?
.         How have development initiatives around water (e.g. introduction
of new technologies) transformed social relations (e.g. class, gender, race,
ethnicity) in low-income contexts?
.         How are processes and discourses of neoliberalization influencing
relations between donors, NGOs and clients in water resources management in
the global South?
.         How have water rights schemes been negotiated and implemented, and
how have these changed social relations and control over water on the
ground?
.         How do Integrated Water Resources Management schemes (and the
like) reconfigure socio-political relations within river basins?
.         How does the materiality of water disrupt narratives of
developmental success, and what does it mean for understanding the
socio-ecological role of water in development?
.         How can we further our understanding of the political ecologies of
water-related natural disasters?
.         What are the politics of community water schemes, and to what
extent can they challenge top-down interventions, as well as contribute
towards the water needs of low-income groups?
 
Please send in a title and brief abstract (max. 200 words) to Dr. Farhana
Sultana ([log in to unmask]) before Oct. 15th, 2007.
 
Please note that no financial assistance is available for this event.

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Dr. Farhana Sultana
Department of Geography
King's College London
The Strand
London WC2R 2LS
U.K.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7848 1372
Fax: +44 (0)20 7848 2287
Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/geography/people/acad/sultana/
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