Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa
This paper traces the implementation of reforms in water resource management in the Inkomati catchment, South Africa, since the National Water Act of 1998. It focuses on the ways that the predominant water users – white commercial farmers – have negotiated competing demands for water, particularly f...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Water Alternatives Association
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Water Alternatives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/volume-12/v12issue3/493-a12-3-2/file |
| _version_ | 1818963251484950528 |
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| author | Rebecca Peters Philip Woodhouse |
| author_facet | Rebecca Peters Philip Woodhouse |
| author_sort | Rebecca Peters |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper traces the implementation of reforms in water resource management in the Inkomati catchment, South Africa, since the National Water Act of 1998. It focuses on the ways that the predominant water users – white commercial farmers – have negotiated competing demands for water, particularly from black farmers and from growing urban water supply systems. The paper argues that existing commercial agricultural interests have largely succeeded in maintaining their access to water. We investigate this outcome using a cultural political economy perspective which focuses on an analysis of discourses of water allocation and explores how different discourses are reinforced by social practice and through their adoption by, and diffusion through, institutions of water governance. The research has identified three principle narratives that underpin discourse: scarcity, participation, and rights. It focuses on the ways in which calculative techniques for quantifying water use and economic value have been used to reinforce discourses rooted in narratives of water scarcity, and how these narratives ultimately structure water reallocation by agencies of water governance. The paper also identifies the wider political and economic dynamics at play, and the processes that may shift the current discourse of water reallocation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T12:42:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac782845841640ce8797812df486f372 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1965-0175 1965-0175 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T12:42:15Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | Water Alternatives Association |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Alternatives |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac782845841640ce8797812df486f3722022-12-21T19:40:25ZengWater Alternatives AssociationWater Alternatives1965-01751965-01752019-10-01123853868Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South AfricaRebecca Peters0Philip Woodhouse1University of OxfordUniversity of ManchesterThis paper traces the implementation of reforms in water resource management in the Inkomati catchment, South Africa, since the National Water Act of 1998. It focuses on the ways that the predominant water users – white commercial farmers – have negotiated competing demands for water, particularly from black farmers and from growing urban water supply systems. The paper argues that existing commercial agricultural interests have largely succeeded in maintaining their access to water. We investigate this outcome using a cultural political economy perspective which focuses on an analysis of discourses of water allocation and explores how different discourses are reinforced by social practice and through their adoption by, and diffusion through, institutions of water governance. The research has identified three principle narratives that underpin discourse: scarcity, participation, and rights. It focuses on the ways in which calculative techniques for quantifying water use and economic value have been used to reinforce discourses rooted in narratives of water scarcity, and how these narratives ultimately structure water reallocation by agencies of water governance. The paper also identifies the wider political and economic dynamics at play, and the processes that may shift the current discourse of water reallocation.http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/volume-12/v12issue3/493-a12-3-2/fileWater reformSouth Africacultural political economydiscoursewater re-allocation |
| spellingShingle | Rebecca Peters Philip Woodhouse Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa Water Alternatives Water reform South Africa cultural political economy discourse water re-allocation |
| title | Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa |
| title_full | Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa |
| title_short | Reform and regression: Discourses of water reallocation in Mpumalanga, South Africa |
| title_sort | reform and regression discourses of water reallocation in mpumalanga south africa |
| topic | Water reform South Africa cultural political economy discourse water re-allocation |
| url | http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/volume-12/v12issue3/493-a12-3-2/file |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rebeccapeters reformandregressiondiscoursesofwaterreallocationinmpumalangasouthafrica AT philipwoodhouse reformandregressiondiscoursesofwaterreallocationinmpumalangasouthafrica |