Community, markets, and conviviality: a political ecology of rural water supply

Abstract

Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 "Look at the world through watery eyes" 1.2 Research questions 1.3 Conceptualisation 1.4 Positionality and the tale of my research odyssey 1.5 Research methodology 1.6 The regional context of the case studies 1.7 Scientific output 1.8 Outline of the dissertation Chapter 2 The emergence of collectively owned self-supply water supply systems in rural South Africa -what can we learn from the Tshakhuma case in Limpopo? 2.1 Introduction: South Africa's water services challenge 2.2 Background: The international interest in self-supply 2.3 Self-supply and the role of communities in water service delivery in South Africa 2.4 Conceptual notes 2.5 Methods 2.6 Results 2.7 Discussion and conclusionChapter 3 Addressing failed water infrastructure delivery through increased accountability and end-user agency: the case of the sekhukhune district, South Africa 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Conceptual take on failed service delivery 3.3 Methodology 3.4 Scrutinising four phases of service delivery to identify mechanisms that cause failure 3.5 Transformative servicing -the pilot project in ga-moela 3.6 Discussion: counter-mechanisms increasing accountability and improving service delivery 3.7 Conclusion Chapter 4 Conviviality under pressure of market-modernist expertocracy: the case of water commons in rural Switzerland 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Conviviality and the commons 4.3 The historical development of community owned water schemes 4.4 The four phases of a project establishing water access 4.5 The unification of three schemes 4.6 Conclusion: conviviality and the threats of market-modernist forces Chapter 5 Rooted water collectives in a modernist and neoliberal imaginary: threats and perspectives for rural water commons 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Analytical and conceptual framework 5.3 Methodology 5.4 Context of the three case study areas 5.5 Results: the three rooted water collectives 5.6 Discussion 5.7 Conclusion Chapter 6 Discussion and conclusion 6.1 A critical look at my conceptual journey 6.2 Reflection on rural water supply collectives 6.3 Future research 6.4 Reflection on positionality 6.5 Conclusion Chapter 7 Summary Chapter 8 Acknowledgments Chapter 9 Bibliography Chapter 10 NotesLocal context: Entlebuch the case is situated in a rural municipality located in the mountainous region of Entlebuch, within the Kanton of Luzern. Outside the urbanised zone of the village, there are six independent and user owned water schemes that abstract water from natural springs and deliver it to connected households. While the yield of these springs is not directly subject to temporary changes in weather, many are sensitive to longer dry spells as occurred in 2018 and 2020. The rainfall, despite climate change, is predicted to remain at around 1400mm (Kanton Luzern, 2022), but summer droughts and heavy rainfall events are expected to become more frequent (Regierungsrat des Kantons Luzern, 2021). The high protection status of the remaining natural springs means that collectives aiming to improve their water supply in most cases h...