The Politics of Underdevelopment: Metered to Death—How a Water Experiment Caused Riots and a Cholera Epidemic

Pauw, J.G.

doi:10.2190/kf8j-5nqd-xcyu-u8q7

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the middle of this complex context, a cholera epidemic broke out in August 2000 in the province of KwaZulu‐Natal, with more than 80,000 people becoming ill and 171 dying (Mugero and Hoque 2001). Critics attributed the outbreak to the installation of pre‐paid meters that forced those who could not afford to pay for the service to use contaminated water from rivers (Pauw 2003). Although the government rejected such explanations, during the ensuing municipal elections the ANC promised a policy of free basic water to ensure that poor households would have access to a minimum amount of water.…”

Section: Strategic Deployments and Further Context Specificities Of Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Right to Water: Contemporary Challenges and Contours of a Global Debate

Mirosa

Harris

2011

Antipode

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years, significant debate has taken place around the concept of the "human right to water". In this paper, we seek to respond to recent critiques and clarify the terms of the debate by presenting an in-depth exploration of the human right to water. We explore several critiques of the concept, situate it in the context of the current neoliberalization of water provision and in relation to contemporary water challenges, and present some examples of how it has been deployed to further the cause of access to water for vulnerable populations in varied contexts. We conclude that, rather than abandoning the concept as critics have suggested, the human right to water maintains importance as a discourse and strategy in the contemporary moment.

show abstract

Section: Strategic Deployments and Further Context Specificities Of Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Right to Water: Contemporary Challenges and Contours of a Global Debate

Mirosa

Harris

2011

Antipode

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Full privatisation has been implemented in the UK and France (though privatisation in these cases is still subject to critique). Overall, privatisation has had mixed outcomes, including disastrous results in Bolivia in 2000 [47], and in 1999 in South Africa where citizens could not afford water prices following privatisation, instead turning to unfiltered water, leading to an unprecedented cholera outbreak [53]. As Weiss notes, "[P]rivatization is not the panacea to the world's ailing public water sector" [26].…”

Section: Existing Definitions Of the Intragenerational And Intergenermentioning

confidence: 99%

The International Law and Politics of Water Access: Experiences of Displacement, Statelessness, and Armed Conflict

Krakow

2020

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article analyses international law regarding the human right to water as it impacts people who are stateless, displaced, and/or residents of armed conflict zones in the contemporary Middle East. Deficiencies in international law, including humanitarian, water, human rights, and criminal law, are examined to demonstrate international law's strengths and weaknesses for functioning as a guarantor of essential rights for vulnerable groups already facing challenges resulting from ambiguous legal statuses. What are the political factors causing lack of water access, and what international legal protections exist to protect vulnerable groups when affected by water denial? The analysis is framed by Hannah Arendt's assertion that loss of citizenship in a sovereign state leaves people lacking "the right to have rights", as human rights are inextricably connected to civil rights. This article demonstrates that stateless/displaced persons and armed conflict zone residents are disproportionately impacted by lack of water, yet uniquely vulnerable under international law. This paper offers unprecedented analysis of international criminal law's role in grappling with water access restrictions. I challenge existing "water wars" arguments, instead proposing remedies for international law's struggle to guarantee the human right to water for refugees/internally displaced persons (IDPs). Examples include Israel/Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. A key original contribution is the application of Arendt's theory of the totalising impacts of human rights violations to cases of water access denial, arguing that these scenarios are examples of environmental injustice that restrict vulnerable persons' abilities to access their human rights.

show abstract

“…The “most troubling” psychosocial impact was loss of family income associated with absence from work or income generating activities. McDonald et al () and Pauw () explore the social construction of the KwaZulu‐Natal cholera outbreak, focusing on the impact of cost‐recovery policies and the under‐design of the water supply system on access to improved water, but also consider how stigma delayed access to treatment, with sometimes fatal results.…”

Section: Cholera: a Indicator Of Inequity For Urban Water Security?mentioning

confidence: 99%

On considering climate resilience in urban water security: A review of the vulnerability of the urban poor in sub‐Saharan Africa

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate shock-related water insecurity has a significant impact on poverty, and vice versa, with poor people adversely impacted by different hazards. Many studies have focused on rural communities resulting in a lack of evidence on the vulnerability of urban dwellers. In this review, we explore the literature on the vulnerability of the urban poor to floods, droughts, and cholera in Sub-Saharan Africa. We particularly highlight the structural challenges and systemic inequalities that are increasing the vulnerability of the urban poor including the differential experiences of women and children. We conclude that poor people have: unequal opportunities to cope with shocks, being deprived from access to water services that wealthier households have; their needs are inequitably ignored; and cumulative vulnerability that reverberates climate shocks into smaller consequences that can have dramatic effects. Therefore, the pathways out of poverty are limited for the urban poor. This is not only due to factors of political economy such as the location and construction materials of houses, but also legacies of discrimination and their reproduction. Individual vulnerabilities are frequently increased due to the roles and responsibilities assigned to people of particular genders and/or ages. We find that these differential vulnerabilities are crucial yet poorly researched. There is also a lack of evidence for the manifold effects of drought on the urban poor. Building on the urban climate resilience literature we argue that policy makers and practitioners must consider who water security is for.

show abstract

The Politics of Underdevelopment: Metered to Death—How a Water Experiment Caused Riots and a Cholera Epidemic

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Human Right to Water: Contemporary Challenges and Contours of a Global Debate

Human Right to Water: Contemporary Challenges and Contours of a Global Debate

The International Law and Politics of Water Access: Experiences of Displacement, Statelessness, and Armed Conflict

On considering climate resilience in urban water security: A review of the vulnerability of the urban poor in sub‐Saharan Africa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About