Please note: this event has passed
The ever-present relationship between large river basins and development has been a feature of global political economy for hundreds of years. A recognizable ‘water crisis’ narrative emerged in the last few decades of the 20th Century, which shifted attention to improving water governance and considering systems interconnectedness – a concept epitomised, perhaps, in the water-energy-food nexus advocated in policy circles and key global water events. Yet these relatively technocratic narratives have sat somewhat uneasily alongside wider discourse on values, the politics of contestation, everyday struggles over water and, increasingly, the actions taken up to deal with climate change. Embedded in these new concerns and challenges are global politics of trade, shifting geopolitics, aid siloes, climate security and post-colonial legacies. These processes of complex value(re)construction, absorption and contestation are beginning to shape river basin systems in new ways. In our first episode, we ask questions around values, discussing the drivers and demands that are shaping the political economy of river basins today. We want to explore the big picture including the underlying ideologies and systemic pressures that matter but often left unspoken. Who are the winners and losers in the processes of complex value construction and contestation and what, if anything, does this mean for our long-term capacity to build future-proof socio-economic systems and polities?