The Medical Anthropology of Water and Sanitation

Wells, E. Christian; Whiteford, Linda M.

doi:10.1002/9781119718963.ch9

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…87 Social science research has convincingly demonstrated how economic inequalities, structural racism, political interests, health disparities, environmental legacies, and other factors can intersect to influence technology adoption, use, and sustainability. 88 Moreover, research shows that water and sanitation problems in underbounded communities are often interdependent with other resource challenges, such as food security, 89 housing infrastructure, 20 and stormwater management and transportation. 90 Recognizing these complex dynamics, solutions to the challenges articulated in the previous section need to account for the diverse character, demographics, and histories of underbounded communities.…”

Section: ■ Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Water and sanitation security will not be realized through simple technology transfer to underbounded communities . Social science research has convincingly demonstrated how economic inequalities, structural racism, political interests, health disparities, environmental legacies, and other factors can intersect to influence technology adoption, use, and sustainability . Moreover, research shows that water and sanitation problems in underbounded communities are often interdependent with other resource challenges, such as food security, housing infrastructure, and stormwater management and transportation .…”

Section: Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meeting the Water and Sanitation Challenges of Underbounded Communities in the U.S.

Wells

Vidmar

Webb

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Water and sanitation (wastewater) infrastructure in the United States is aging and deteriorating, with massive underinvestment over the past several decades. For many years, lack of attention to water and sanitation infrastructure has combined with racial segregation and discrimination to produce uneven access to water and wastewater services resulting in growing threats to human and environmental health. In many metropolitan areas in the U.S., those that often suffer disproportionately are residents of low-income, minority communities located in urban disadvantaged unincorporated areas on the margins of major cities. Through the process of underbounding (the selective expansion of city boundaries to exclude certain neighborhoods often based on racial demographics or economics), residents of these communities are disallowed municipal citizenship and live without piped water, sewage lines, and adequate drainage or flood control. This Perspective identifies the range of water and sanitation challenges faced by residents in these communities. We argue that future investment in water and sanitation should prioritize these communities and that interventions need to be culturally context sensitive. As such, approaches to address these problems must not only be technical but also social and give attention to the unique geographic and political setting of local infrastructures.

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Section: ■ Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meeting the Water and Sanitation Challenges of Underbounded Communities in the U.S.

Wells

Vidmar

Webb

et al. 2022

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…These networks, frequently moderated by a “free market” model of economic development, are funded by organizations emphasizing scalable universalized interventions with pre‐defined measurable outcomes (D'souza et al., 2018). This can cause local nuances to be overlooked, unintentionally reshaping social relations in ways that alienate, dislocate, and disadvantage the populations they aimed to serve (Anand, 2017; Boelens et al., 2015; Wells & Whiteford, 2022; Whiteford et al., 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethics and ambiguity in wastewater development on the Placencia Peninsula, Belize

Webb,

Wells,

Prouty

et al. 2024

Annals of Anthropol Pract

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Development projects present ambiguous ethical terrain for anthropologists to navigate. Particularly in relation to WaSH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) infrastructures which mediate human and environmental health. Our interdisciplinary team of anthropologists and engineers initially set out to design context‐sensitive on‐site wastewater treatment infrastructures for homes along Belize's Placencia Peninsula. The project's beginning coincided with the announcements of a government sponsored centralized wastewater infrastructure project and the construction of a cruise ship port on a nearby island, however. Soon the wastewater project's promises—economic opportunity, improved human and environmental health, modernization ‐ came crashing into its pratfalls—exacerbating existing inequalities, loss of livelihoods, and diminished local governance. Our team was left with uncertain decisions about how to engage with improving infrastructure, given the emerging community dynamics. By detailing the imperfect trade‐offs at play, we highlight ethical complexities inherent when communities’ development futures are at stake. Anthropology's fraught history includes legacies of unintended harms from entanglement in others’ inequities. However, avoiding involvement out of excessive caution risks leaving marginalized voices unheard and extant problems unresolved. This case immersed our team in the inherent optimism and ethical experimentation which underlie development contexts. Our analysis adopts the structure from Whiteford and Trotters’ (2008) “Ethical‐Problem Solving Guide” to reveal the layered tensions that underly critical WaSH infrastructures.

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