Economic globalization, sustainability, gender and water

This book recognizes the centrality of gender as an organizing principle in the ways water is envisioned, used and managed every day at different locations and in different contexts. Gender intersects with other factors such as race, ethnicity, and economic, social and geographical locations. Consequently, the connections between gender and water are contingent and heterogeneous, multifaceted and changing. As water itself is fluid, so are the social constructs of it, shaping women and men's lives. Fluid Bonds makes gender visible in the various ways water is dealt with, and questions how these ways affect gender and how gender affects views on water. Through a rich offering of case studies, it identifies the multiple and changing relationships between the two, and notes some commonalities whilst gendering the use and management of water. Development experts perceive the connections between gender and water as mainly related to poverty, raising questions of unequal access to resources, and poor sanitation leading to ill-health of women and children. This 'othering' becomes a constant feature, leading to a perception that the 'problems' have been sorted out in gender-wise North. The gendered realities of poverty and water are such that no one can possibly deny them; the case studies included in Fluid Bonds illustrate various issues: of rights, of access, of health and sanitation, of women’s invisibility in farming and fishing, of women facing the impact of policies, of being excluded from the sustainability agenda, of being 'given' solution from above, and also of women’s agency in dealing with water-related issues. However, the streams of hydrofeminisms coming together in Fluid Bonds also create a common terrain for the scholars from the North and the South to begin a reappraisal of water as an essential and gendered substance. Fluid Bonds brings together a group of experts representing a wide range of methodological approaches, backgrounds and understandings on gender and water. The twenty-two chapters point to the need of greater rights of women in determining how water is used by communities, show how women's roles remain hidden, how their priorities are neglected, and how discourses about gender roles and rights determine women's participation in water management. Collectively, the contributors consider the problematic fluidity and indefinite categories of gender and water, tracing the bonds as well as drawing out some differences, focusing on the gendered nature of water in life, of which women and men, at all times, constitute a part. The book will be of immediate interest to academics, development planners, administrators, educators, activists and water experts (see over for contents)