It is widely ackowledged that the world water crisis is mainly a crisis of governance. However, there is no shared understanding of what "governance" means, how it works, who are its actors. The prevailing conceptions of governance in mainstream water policy documents tend to be instrumental and idealistic. Perhaps the most important consequence of instrumental and idealistic understandings of governance is the rhetorical depoliticization of what is, paradoxically, a political process. The main mechanism of this "depoliticization" of governance" is the exclusion of the ends and values informing water policy from the debate. Instrumental and idealistic understandings of governance constitute a major obstacle for the scientific understanding of the process and for achieving success in policy interventions directed at tackling the water crisis. The paper argues for the development of a balance between the techno-scientific, socio-economic, political, and cultural aspects of water management activities, which may help in superseding the artificial separation of water research and practice in disciplinary and corporatist feuds.

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This paper examines key aspects of the policies promoting the expansion of private multinational monopolies as the main tool to solve the problems affecting water and sanitation services in less developed countries. It is based on recent findings from research carried out on the impact of these policies in nine countries of Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The article argues that the main claims put forward to justify these policies, that private sector participation provides the financial resources needed to improve the situation in developing countries and that these policies contribute to reduce social inequality in these countries, are not supported by the empirical evidence. The findings suggest that the international community cannot rely on private sector participation for achieving the development goals for water and sanitation, particularly in the poorer countries. The paper concludes that there is a need to learn from the past, when developed countries managed to achieve the universalization of essential services thanks to the convergence of a wide range of social and political forces, including free-market liberals, who accepted that essential services cannot be organized purely on market principles. It suggests that achieving similar success in LDCs will also require the amalgamation of a similarly broad and universalistic ensemble of social forces.

José Esteban Castro explores some of the main connections between social struggles over water and the exercise of substantive citizenship and democratic governance in Latin America. He focuses the attention on some of the key analytical distinctions for the study of water struggles in Latin America and elsewhere, and explores the ongoing and emerging trends characterizing these struggles. Development (2008) 51, 72–76. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100440

The author focuses on the interrelations between access to urban water services and citizenship rights, taking the case of Mexico City Metropolitan Area as the empirical reference. Recent research has shown that social struggles over the access to and improvement of water services have been an important component of Mexican public life during at least the last twenty years. The author argues that mainstream explanations of the water crises tend to reduce the problem to its economic, technological, and physical^natural dimensions. Although the relevance of these factors affecting the provision of efficient and universal water and sanitation service is recognized the emphasis is placed on the socioeconomic and political inequalities that determine the exclusion of large sectors of the population from full access to essential living conditions, including water services.

ResumoO artigo objetiva oferecer uma visão histórica de fatores que induziram ou influenciaram as primeiras políticas públicas de saneamento e de recursos hídricos no Brasil. Um dos pressupostos adotados é o de que o desenvolvimento socioeconômico e político do país resultou não apenas de dinâmicas endógenas, mas também de estruturas globais de poder, desde os primórdios da empresa colonial. Para tanto, usa-se a linha teórica de intérpretes clássicos da história brasileira como Celso Furtado e Caio Prado Júnior e suas perspectivas sobre a posição periférica do país no sistema econômico global. O esforço analítico resultou na percepção de que a política de saneamento se desenvolveu em consonância com iniciativas e interesses europeus na área e de que, em diferente sentido, as políticas de recursos hídricos emergiram da necessidade de regular o uso da água, especialmente para privilegiar a geração de energia elétrica em um contexto de crise externa e de centralização administrativa.

RESUMOHá uma importante lacuna na literatura, sobre os conceitos centrais e as abordagens teóricas relativas à interface entre políticas públicas e a problemática do saneamento. Visando contribuir com o avanço do tema da formulação de políticas públicas para a área, com maiores efetividade e eficiência, o artigo desenvolve revisão da literatura relacionada. Entende-se que os elementos essenciais nesse enfoque são a necessidade de (i) integrar os aspectos técnicos com o processo de formulação e implementação de políticas públicas; (ii) incorporar na análise o papel dos condicionantes sistêmicos sobre tal processo. Atribui-se ênfase ainda à interdependência entre essas formulações e o contexto sócio-político-econômico em questão e ao conceito de que as políticas públicas devam ser formuladas e avaliadas considerando o saneamento como direito. São desenvolvidas duas frentes, em que se observa o potencial de contribuição dos conceitos das políticas públicas -a formulação de políticas e a avaliação de políticas. A conclusão assinala que o estudo das políticas públicas de saneamento nos países em desenvolvimento deve priorizar um determinado número de questões e desafios, que são brevemente discutidos. ABSTRACTThis article argues that there is an important gap in the literature regarding the central concepts and theoretical approaches dealing with the interface between public policy and environmental sanitation. Through a literature review, it explores how these approaches could be improved in order to make a contribution to the formulation of public policies that may increase effectiveness and efficiency in the field. The key points put forward are the need to: (i) integrate technical aspects with the process of formulation and implementation of public policies and (ii) include in the analysis the role of the systemic conditions and constraints in the process. The paper also places emphasis on the interdependency between policy formulation and the relevant socio-politicaleconomic context, and provides insights for the development of rights-based approaches to the formulation and assessment of public policies in the environmental sanitation sector. The article also examines two fields in which the public policy debate can make important contributions: policy formulation and policy assessment. The conclusion suggests that the study of public policy in the environmental sanitation sector of developing countries should prioritize a number of questions and challenges that are briefly discussed.

SciELO Books / SciELO Livros / SciELO Libros CASTRO, J. E. Proposiciones para el examen teórico y empírico de la privatización: el caso de los servicios de agua y saneamiento en América Latina. In: Água e democracia na América Latina [online]. Campina Grande: EDUEPB, 2016, pp. 56-99. ISBN 978-85-7879-486-6