Water scarcity has emerged as a potential ‘global crisis’ with serious implications for food security, human health and social and economic development. The UN estimates that 2.7 billion people will face water scarcity by 2025. Against a growing alarmism around ‘water wars’, solutions have been framed to address ‘water governance’ due to a perceived lack of efficient public sector management.
Yet, there is still no consensus regarding the exact nature of scarcity and divergent views exist regarding possible solutions. The research seeks to investigate diverse discourses of water scarcity, their underlying scientific and technological underpinnings and the resultant ‘solutions’ by drawing on insights from science studies, sociology, economics, anthropology and engineering.
By focusing on how science is deployed to frame various solutions around water ‘governance’ and water privatisation at both the global level and in India and South Africa, the study illuminates science/ society relations in the water domain and also throw currently unchallenged assumptions regarding scarcity into sharp relief. Through extensive partnerships and user interaction, findings will highlight how ‘solutions’ to enhance people’s access to water can become more attuned to local realities.
Key contacts
