Transforming Bourdieu's "perfect" economy of symbolic goods into an imperfect one – The moral grounding of water transfers in Khartoum

Abstract

Abstract. Pierre Bourdieu conceptualizes social action as "instrumental rational". Disinterestedness is only possible as part of an actor's practical logic when the said actor actively or passively misrecognizes underlying interests. In the "logic of logic", this perceived disinterestedness can and must be scientifically reconstructed as a pure economic exchange. Reason-based morality, such as can be found in Kantian philosophy, becomes impossible, and morality becomes an ignored category in Bourdieu's theoretical endeavour. This article's first goal is to locate Bourdieu's approach within moral philosophy, through parallels to Gauthier's Morals by Agreement. An empirical case on water transfers between neighbours in Khartoum reveals the limits of such an approach. This leads to the second goal. By translating Bourdieu's perfect "economy of symbolic goods" into an imperfect one, reason-based morality is integrated into his project, and the relevance of interest for social interaction is curbed, but not denied.

Household water sharing: A review of water gifts, exchanges, and transfers across cultures

“…Similarly, in Manila, an econometric study estimated that 25% of urban water access was attributable to water sharing (Violette, 2017). Water sharing was similarly widespread in studies of Khartoum, Sudan (Zug & Graefe, 2014; Zug, 2014), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Nganyanyuka et al, 2014), Cochabamba, Bolivia (Wutich, 2011), and Tijuana, Mexico (Meehan, 2010).…”

“…Water sharing can be part of entitlement systems, particularly when a moral economy of water underpins a common sense of individual and community obligation to provide water to the needy—and frames sanctions against those who do not (Wutich, 2011; Zug, 2014). Research has examined complex, integrated entitlement systems of which water sharing forms one part.…”

Water sharing is a distressing form of reciprocity: Shame, upset, anger, and conflict over water in twenty cross‐cultural sites

“…2020), “water transfers” (Brewis et al. 2019; Zug 2014b), “water gifts” (Zug 2014a; Zug and Graefe 2014), and “reciprocal water exchanges” (Wutich 2011; Wutich and Ragsdale 2008). One collective suggestion embedded in the totality of these cases is that both givers and receivers are often uncomfortable or even distressed while sharing water (Wutich et al.…”

“…Following those initial observations in Bolivia and the theoretical assumption that water sharing is likely happening, members of our Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Research Coordination Network have now ethnographically identified cases of household water sharing in water-insecure communities (Brewis et al [2019] in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Uganda; Brewis et al [2021] in Ethiopia; Cole [2017] in Indonesia; Eichelberger [2010] in Alaska; Pearson, Mayer, and Bradley [2015] in Uganda; see also Schnegg and Linke [2015] in Namibia; Zug and O'Graefe [2014] in Sudan). Mostly called "water sharing" in the recent literature (Brewis et al 2021;Harris et al 2020;Roque et al 2021;Stoler et al 2019;Wutich et al 2018), the phenomenon is not yet comprehensively documented and has also been described as "water borrowing" (Rosinger et al 2020), "water transfers" (Brewis et al 2019;Zug 2014b), "water gifts" (Zug 2014a;Zug and Graefe 2014), and "reciprocal water exchanges" (Wutich 2011;Wutich and Ragsdale 2008). One collective suggestion embedded in the totality of these cases is that both givers and receivers are often uncomfortable or even distressed while sharing water (Wutich et al 2018)-just like Doña Paloma.…”

Die Ironie der Entwicklungstheorie

“…Viele Arbeiten in der Entwicklungsgeographie beschäftigt sich jedoch gar nicht mit der Problematik von Entwicklung an sich (als Idee, Prozess, Projekt oder Politik), sondern sind eher als eine kritische Sozialgeographie im Globalen Süden zu verstehen. Wenn Sebastian Zug über Wassergaben im Sudan (Zug 2014) oder Benjamin Etzold über Strassenhändler in Dhaka (Etzold 2014) schreiben -um nur zwei jüngere Arbeiten herauszugreifen -dann sind dies überaus interessante und fundierte sozialgeographische Studien, die in Orten durchgeführt werden, die man früher als "Entwicklungsländer" bezeichnet hat. Es handelt sich hier jedoch eher um theoretisch fundierte "area studies" (vgl.…”