2014/02/23 by Margreet Zwarteveen, Rutgerd Boelens · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Water Governance and Infrastructure #Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact #Environmental Justice and Health Disparities
paper · doi:10.1080/02508060.2014.891168
openalex publication_date 2014/02/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
This article provides a framework for understanding water problems as problems of justice. Drawing on wider (environmental) justice approaches, informed by interdisciplinary ontologies that define water as simultaneously natural (material) and social, and based on an explicit acceptance of water problems as always contested, the article posits that water justice is embedded and specific to historical and socio-cultural contexts. Water justice includes but transcends questions of distribution to include those of cultural recognition and political participation, and is intimately linked to the integrity of ecosystems. Justice requires the creative building of bridges and alliances across differences.