De-colonizing water. Dispossession, water insecurity, and Indigenous claims for resources, authority, and territory

Abstract

Set against the background of struggles for territory, livelihood, and dignified existence in Latin America's neoliberal conjuncture, this paper examines contemporary Andean Indigenous claims for water access and control rights based on historical arguments. In the case of the Acequia Tabacundo irrigation system in the north-Ecuadorian Highlands, the rights claims deployed in peasant-Indigenous struggles are cultural and social hybrids. They are rooted in Indigenous history, but also spawned by centuries of interaction with and defense against colonial and post-colonial frames imposed by the Spanish Empire, modern Ecuadorian State structures and influences of transnational capital. Through these conflicts over Indigenous water rights, authority, and identity, this article illustrates and examines the role of Indigenous accounts of their water histories, striving to reclaim, and govern their water territories in times of booming export-flower water extraction.

Teaching Down to Earth—Service-Learning Methodology for Science Education and Sustainability at the University Level: A Practical Approach

“…Working with indigenous communities is useful for dealing with a multitude of ethical issues, as it invites reflection on topics of bioethics and environmental justice [96,97], as well as the right of all human beings to be able to live in a healthy environment [96,98,99] and to be protected from environmental threats [100,101]. Social and economic justice refers to the exploitation of territories and military occupation (which is often exercised with strong repression and violence on indigenous peoples, in order to obtain raw materials and control the territory) [102]. It is also possible to question aspects related to the need to conserve biodiversity [103][104][105] and, at the same time, the importance of research for knowledge and the development of new products to improve the quality of life of human beings [81].…”

Water community networks and the appropriation of neoliberal practices: social technology, depoliticization, and resistance

“…According to Andolina et al (2009), grassroots movements always adapt and appropriate external mechanisms to their own reality, including neoliberal practices. Neoliberalism traditionally refers to the constant transformation and reconfiguration of the social in the light of markets and individual freedom (Harvey 1996). Green neoliberalism specifically refers to the belief in market solutions to solve environmental problems (Felli 2015).…”

“…Moreover, CLOCSAS's leaders have been engaged in a creative process of appropriation of neoliberal and technical knowledge and practices linked to external partners such as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), private companies, or states. Neoliberalism is understood as the constant transformation and reconfiguration of the social in the light of markets and individual freedom (Harvey 1996). It is often associated with processes of depoliticization and professionalization.…”

“…The concept of hydrosocial territories highlights the social construction of the territory through ideologies, knowledge, and political and socioeconomic power. In this approach, scale is meant as a social construct shaped by actors' representations and interactions (Smith 1993, Harvey 1996, Swyngedouw 2004, MacKinnon 2011. Various studies have applied this perspective through the analysis of discourses linked to the case of hydroelectricity megainfrastructures in Colombia (Duarte-Abadía et al 2015); the involvement of water community organizations in multiscale networks to increase their power and influence over water sectoral reforms in Ecuador ; the production of discourses for the democratization of water community governance in Nicaragua (Romano 2016); the production of counternarratives based on cosmological water representations in Peru (Boelens 2014); and the "grassroots scalar politics" of water community organizations in the Andes (Hoogesteger and Verzijl 2015).…”

Cambio Tecnológico, Privatización Y Recuperación De La Autogestión Comunitaria Del Riego. El Caso De Senyera (València)

“…Mediante la modernización tecnológica por «expertos», la penetración de la empresa privada abre una brecha en los sistemas de gestión colectiva. Esto ocurre también en aquellos sistemas de riego autogestionados que, como instituciones que han perdurado en el tiempo, han demostrado una gran sostenibilidad, robustez y resiliencia (Ostrom, 1990;Hidalgo et al, 2017;Mena et al, 2017). Se basan en marcos normativos y derechos de agua colectivos ligados a valores sociales, culturales y morales que son diferentes de los marcos y las prácticas de gestión neoliberales (Vos et al, 2006;Vos and Boelens, 2014;Roth et al, 2015).…”