The Social Life of Water
The Social Life of Water

Author: John R. Wagner

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2013-08-01

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 0857459678

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Everywhere in the world communities and nations organize themselves in relation to water. We divert water from rivers, lakes, and aquifers to our homes, workplaces, irrigation canals, and hydro-generating stations. We use it for bathing, swimming, recreation, and it functions as a symbol of purity in ritual performances. In order to facilitate and manage our relationship with water, we develop institutions, technologies, and cultural practices entirely devoted to its appropriation and distribution, and through these institutions we construct relations of class, gender, ethnicity, and nationality. Relying on first-hand ethnographic research, the contributors to this volume examine the social life of water in diverse settings and explore the impacts of commodification, urbanization, and technology on the availability and quality of water supplies. Each case study speaks to a local set of issues, but the overall perspective is global, with representation from all continents.

Plastic Water
Plastic Water

Author: Gay Hawkins

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2015-09-11

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 0262329530

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How and why branded bottles of water have insinuated themselves into our daily lives, and what the implications are for safe urban water supplies. How did branded bottles of water insinuate themselves into our daily lives? Why did water become an economic good—no longer a common resource but a commercial product, in industry parlance a “fast moving consumer good,” or FMCG? Plastic Water examines the processes behind this transformation. It goes beyond the usual political and environmental critiques of bottled water to investigate its multiplicity, examining a bottle of water's simultaneous existence as, among other things, a product, personal health resource, object of boycotts, and part of accumulating waste matter. Throughout, the book focuses on the ontological dimensions of drinking bottled water—the ways in which this habit enacts new relations and meanings that may interfere with other drinking water practices. The book considers the assemblage and emergence of a mass market for water, from the invention of the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle in 1973 to the development of “hydration science” that accompanied the rise of jogging in the United States. It looks at what bottles do in the world, tracing drinking and disposal practices in three Asian cities with unreliable access to safe water: Bangkok, Chennai, and Hanoi. And it considers the possibility of ethical drinking, examining campaigns to “say no” to the bottle and promote the consumption of tap water in Canada, the United States, and Australia.

Water
Water

Author: Giulio Boccaletti

Publisher: Pantheon

Published: 2021-09-14

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1524748234

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Spanning millennia and continents, a revealing history that “tackles the most important story of our time: our relationship with water in a world of looming scarcity” (Kelly McEvers, NPR Host). "Far more than a biography of its nominal subject ... The book stands as a compelling history of civilization itself." —The Wall Street Journal Book Review Writing with authority and brio, Giulio Boc­caletti—honorary research associate at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Univer­sity of Oxford—shrewdly combines environmental and social history, beginning with the earliest civ­ilizations of sedentary farmers on the banks of the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates Rivers. Even as he describes how these societies were made possible by sea-level changes from the last glacial melt, he incisively examines how this type of farming led to irrigation and multiple cropping, which, in turn, led to a population explosion and labor specialization. We see with clarity how irrigation’s structure informed social structure (inventions such as the calendar sprung from agricultural necessity); how in ancient Greece, the communal ownership of wells laid the groundwork for democracy; how the Greek and Roman experiences with water security resulted in systems of taxation; and how the modern world as we know it began with a legal framework for the development of water infrastructure. Extraordinary for its monumental scope and piercing insightfulness, Water: A Biography richly enlarges our understanding of our relationship to—and fundamental reliance on—the most elemental substance on earth.

Economical, Political, and Social Issues in Water Resources
Economical, Political, and Social Issues in Water Resources

Author: Omid Bozorg-Haddad

Publisher: Elsevier

Published: 2021-07-14

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0323906923

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Economical, Political, and Social Issues in Water Resources provides a fully comprehensive and interdisciplinary overview of all three factors in their relation to water resources. Economic issues consist of Water accounting, Water economy, Water pricing, Water market, Water bank and bourse. Political issues consist of Water power and hydrogemistry, Water diplomacy and hydropolitics, Water rights and water laws, Water governance and policy, Shared water resources management, Water management systems, and social issues consist of Water and culture, civilization and history, Water quality, hygiene, and health, Water and society. This book familiarizes researchers with all aspects of the field, which can lead to optimized and multidimensional water resources management. Some of abovementioned issues are new, so the other aim of this book is to identify them in order to researchers can easily find them and use them in their studies. Includes diverse case studies from around the world Presents contributions from global and diverse contributors with interdisciplinary backgrounds, including water engineers, scientists, planners the economic, political and social issues surrounding water Contains in-depth definitions and concepts of each topic

Split Waters
Split Waters

Author: Luisa Cortesi

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2021-07-05

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 1000405907

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Limited, finite, contaminated, unavailable or expensive, water divides people all around the globe. We all cannot do without water for long, but can for long enough to fight for it. This commonsensical narration of water conflicts, however, follows a pattern of scarcity and necessity that is remarkably unvaried despite different social and geographical contexts. Through in-depth case studies from around the globe, this volume investigates this similarity of narration—confronting the power of a single story by taking it seriously instead of dismissing it. In so doing, it invites the reader to rethink water conflicts and how they are commonly understood and managed. This book: Posits the existence of the idea of water conflict, and asks what it is and what it produces, thus how it is used to pursue particular interests and to legitimise specific historical, technological and environmental relations; Examines the meaning and power of ideas as compared to other categories of knowledge, advancing theoretical frameworks related to environmental knowledge, discursive power, social constructivism; Presents an alternative agenda to deepen the conversation around water conflicts among scholars and activists. Of interest to scholars and activists alike, this volume is addressed to those involved with environmental conflicts, environmental knowledge and justice, disasters and climate change from the disciplinary angles of environmental anthropology and sociology, political ecology and economy, science and technology studies, human geography and environmental sciences, development and cooperation, public policy and peace studies. Essays by Gina Bloodworth, Ben Bowles, Patrick Bresnihan, Luisa Cortesi, Mattia Grandi, K. J. Joy, Midori Kawabe, Adrianne Kroepsch, Vera Lazzaretti, Leslie Mabon, Renata Moreno Quintero, Madhu Ramnath, Jayaprakash Rao Polsani, Dik Roth, Theresa Selfa,Veronica Strang, Mieke van Hemert, Jeroen Warner, Madelinde Winnubst.

Because Water Is Life
Because Water Is Life

Author: Gary L. Chamberlain

Publisher:

Published: 2018-08

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 9781599829142

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Climate change. Pollution. Scarcity. Fracking. Privatization. Acidification. What can Catholicism's "best-kept secret"--the social doctrine of the church--teach us about Earth's water crisis? In fact, it can teach us a lot. Gary Chamberlain's Because Water Is Life: Catholic Social Teaching Confronts Earth's Water Crisis explores the major issues we face when it comes to water by analyzing them through the lens of Catholic social teaching (CST). After introducing the principles of CST, Because Water Is Life tells narratives about real people and real scenarios to unpack six contemporary water crises. With review and discussion questions and recommendations for additional research and reading, Because Water Is Life not only encourages critical thinking on one of today's most pressing issues, but catalyzes action and inspires hope for developing a new water ethic.

The Social Life of Words
The Social Life of Words

Author: Laura Wright

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2022-12-01

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1119881056

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A new approach to sociolinguistics, introducing the study of the social meaning of English words over time, and offering an engaging and entertaining demonstration of lexical sociolinguistic analysis The Social Life of Words: A Historical Approach explores the rise and fall of the social properties of words, charting ways in which they take on new social connotations. Written in an engaging narrative style, this entertaining text matches up sociolinguistic theory with social history and biography to discover which kind of people used what kind of word, where and when. Social factors such as class, age, race, region, gender, occupation, religion and criminality are discussed in British and American English. From familiar words such as popcorn, porridge, café, to less common words like burgoo, califont, etna, and phrases like kiss me quick, monkey parade, slap-bang shop, The Social Life of Words demonstrates some of the many ways a new word or phrase can develop social affiliations. Detailed yet accessible chapters cover key areas of historical sociolinguistics, including concepts such as social networks, communities of practice, indexicality and enregisterment, prototypes and stereotypes, polysemy, onomasiology, language regard, lexical appropriation, and more. The first book to take a focused look at lexis as a topic for sociolinguistic analysis, The Social Life of Words: Introduces sociolinguistic theories and shows how they can be applied to the lexicon Demonstrates how readers can apply sociolinguistic theory to their own analyses of words in English and other languages Provides an engaging and amusing new look at many familiar words, inviting students to explore the sociolinguistic properties of words over time for themselves Part of Wiley Blackwell’s acclaimed Language in Society series, The Social Life of Words is essential reading for upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and linguists working in sociolinguistics, lexical semantics, English lexicology, and the history and development of modern English.

The Social Life of the Hebrews (Routledge Revivals)
The Social Life of the Hebrews (Routledge Revivals)

Author: Edward Day

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-09-05

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 113664346X

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First published in 1901, this study of the social life of the Hebrews considers both the time of the judges and the time of the monarchy. Written in a popularly scientific style, designed to appeal to students of ancient Middle East and biblical history as well as the general reader, this work details the social life and history of allied Semitic races, covering the period of time from the settlement of Canaan to the breakup of the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC.

Undercurrents of Power
Undercurrents of Power

Author: Kevin Dawson

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2021-05-07

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0812224930

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Kevin Dawson considers how enslaved Africans carried aquatic skills—swimming, diving, boat making, even surfing—to the Americas. Undercurrents of Power not only chronicles the experiences of enslaved maritime workers, but also traverses the waters of the Atlantic repeatedly to trace and untangle cultural and social traditions.

Water for Food Security, Nutrition and Social Justice
Water for Food Security, Nutrition and Social Justice

Author: Lyla Mehta

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-09-19

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 1351747614

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This book is the first comprehensive effort to bring together Water, Food Security and Nutrition (FSN) in a way that goes beyond the traditional focus on irrigated agriculture. Apart from looking at the role of water and sanitation for human well-being, it proposes alternative and more locally appropriate ways to address complex water management and governance challenges from the local to global levels against a backdrop of growing uncertainties. The authors challenge mainstream supply-oriented and neo-Malthusian visions that argue for the need to increase the land area under irrigation in order to feed the world’s growing population. Instead, they argue for a reframing of the debate concerning production processes, waste, food consumption and dietary patterns whilst proposing alternative strategies to improve water and land productivity, putting the interests of marginalized and disenfranchized groups upfront. The book highlights how accessing water for FSN can be challenging for small-holders, vulnerable and marginalized women and men, and how water allocation systems and reform processes can negatively affect local people’s informal rights. The book argues for the need to improve policy coherence across water, land and food and is original in making a case for strengthening the relationship between the human rights to water and food, especially for marginalized women and men. It will be of great interest to practitioners, students and researchers working on water and food issues.