Social Power and the Urbanization of Water: Flows of Power (Oxford Geographical and Environmental Studies Series)

Taking as his case-study the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, where 600,000 people lack easy access to potable water, Erik Swyngedouw aims to reconstruct, theoretically and empirically, the political, social, and economic conduits through which water flows, and to identify how power relations infuse the metabolic transformation of water as it becomes urban. These flows of water which are simultaneously physical and social carry in their currents the embodiment of myriad social struggles and conflicts. The excavation of these flows narrates stories about the city's structure and development. Yet these flows also carry the potential for an improved, more just, and more equitable right to the city and its water. The flows of power that are captured by urban water circulation also suggest that the question of urban sustainability is not just about achieving sound ecological and environmental conditions, but first and foremost about a social struggle for access and control; a struggle not just for the right to water, but for the right to the city itself. Social Power And The Urbanization Of Water Takes The Circulation Of Water As A Lense Through Which To Analyse How The Natural And Social Fuse Together In The Process Of Urbanization. In Addition, Excavating The Circulation Of Water Provides A Vehicle To Examine The Relations Between Social, Political, And Economic Power Which Give Structure To The Urbanization Process. These Power Relations Become Embodied In And Expressed By The Particular Forms Through Which Water Becomes Urban. This Analysis, In Turn, Allows Light To Be Cast On Who Controls The Transformation And Appropriation Of Nature And The City's Environment. The City Of Guayaquil In Ecuador, Where 600,000 People Lack Easy Access To Potable Water, Provides The Empirical Background For This Analysis. Historical Political-ecological Research Is Combined With An Analysis Of Key Contemporary Power Brokers Who Organize A Highly Uneven And Deeply Unjust Urban Water Circulation System.--jacket. Introduction: The Power Of Water -- Pt. I. Flows Of Power: Nature, Power, And The City -- 1. Hybrid Waters: On Water, Nature, And Society -- 2. The City In A Glass Of Water: Circulating Water, Circulating Power -- 3. Water, Power, And The Andean City: Situating Guayaquil -- Pt. Ii. Social Power And The Urbanization Of Water In Guayaquil, Ecuador -- 4. The Urban Conquest Of Water In Guayaquil: 1880-1945: Cocoa And The Urban Water Dream. Erik Swyngedouw. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [185]-202) And Index. Taking as his case-study the city of Guayaquil in Ecuador, where 600,000 people lack easy access to potable water, the author aims to reconstruct, theoretically and empirically, the political, social and economic conduits through which water flows, and identify the inherent political relations In recent years, we have become increasingly aware of the importance of water as a critical good, and questions of water supply, access, and management, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, have become key issues (Gleick 1993; Postel 1992; Stauffer 1998).