Freshwater geographies? Place, matter, practice, hope

Abstract

In light of the contributions to this special issue I propose four directions for future research in freshwater geographies: place, matter, practice and hope. First, in spanning the social and physical sciences, the discipline of geography can shed light on water as part of biophysical, socio-cultural, political place. Second, notwithstanding the importance of place, the materiality of water matters. Third, practice encompasses two distinct fields: cultural practices of interaction with water places and practices of governing. Finally, in the face of abuse of freshwater and of peoples' relationships with water places, geography can work towards imagining and enacting hopeful futures. AbstractIn light of the contributions to this special issue I propose four directions for future research in freshwater geographies: place, matter, practice and hope. First, in spanning the social and physical sciences, the discipline of geography can shed light on water as part of biophysical, socio--cultural, political place. Second, notwithstanding the importance of place, the materiality of water matters. Third, practice encompasses two distinct fields: cultural practices of interaction with water places and practices of governing. Finally, in the face of abuse of freshwater and of peoples' relationships with water places, geography can work towards imagining and enacting hopeful futures.

Children and young people living through the monsoon: watery entanglements and fluid inequalities

“…Watery geographies are increasingly on the academic agenda (Gibbs 2014;Clark et al 2017;Djohari, Brown and Stolk 2017); the scale and scope of watery relations extend from the oceans, to microbes, to bodies, industries and much more. Our human bodies are enveloped by watery substances, from the water that we drink, that passes through our bodies, to the puddles that we run through, the rain and dew that falls on our skin and the clouds that we monitor.…”

“…We are not denying that significant numbers of people face uncertainties with water provision and quality; however, we argue that other fluid relations need consideration in the academic and policy literature, broadening our understanding of watery inequalities. This paper bridges this gap through the lens of childhood, investigating the hydrosocialities of the monsoon and its entanglement with social power (Gibbs 2014); bodies (Krause and Strang 2016) and spaces (Truelove 2011).…”

Shadow waters: Making Australian water cultures visible

“…Attention to cultural practice through engagement with different worldviews allows us to develop diverse, complex and nuanced understandings of water places (Gibbs, ). Gibbs refers to water places as “the sites and paths where water flows, sits, sinks, falls, emerges, passes through, and evaporates from, and where histories of interaction between humans, non‐humans, water and landscape form places” (, pp.…”

“…The senior administrator of the local government's framing of the Goulburn as a sacrifice river is evident in this perspective on the way coal mining affects townships and visitors. In almost inverse relation to how Wiradjuri people value the Goulburn as a vital water place (Gibbs, , ), many local townspeople tend to view the Goulburn as a remote, intense resource use zone and orient the Cudgegong as a valuable water place. For instance, in an interview with a landholder who lives in the Goulburn catchment, the political ecology of the Goulburn is framed as “edge” country.

All those mines are on the edge of nowhere, like they're out of sight and out of mind for Mudgee.

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Freshwater geographies: Prospects for an engaged institutional project?

“…We argue that geographers have much to contribute to thinking about how freshwater – as lifeblood of our society – might, can and should be done. Geographers – and geography – have a history of making powerful contributions to understanding the biophysical, cultural and political constitution of water in the global scholarly community (see Gibbs ; Chorley ; Schumm ; Cosgrove & Petts ; Swyngedouw ; Linton ).…”