On Obscured Politics Of Water Distribution

Although the access to water could be improved, the amount of water in nature is finite. The distribution of finite water does matter all the lives. This research is a qualitative study. Based on fieldwork in Song Village, this study aims to disclose the mechanism and values underlying the process of water distribution in the village and further reflect the narratives of water scarcity, trying to unveil the politics of water distribution behind those narratives.The research has found that:in the interface of water use for production, the mining factories, which enter into the village under the favor of preferential policies provided by local government for economic growth, have reshaped the structure of water distribution when enclosing water for iron power production. Due to the power asymmetry, mining factories become winners and grab water from local people with the latter marginalized in the restructured water distribution and being losers. In the interface of water use for daily life, the tradition of cooperation in water access has been weakened and resulted in water differentiation within the community driven by the exclusion of technology for pumps and well digging and the commodification of water access. The value of individualization has justified the water differentiation which is further reinforced by the wave of consumerism in the village.The discourse of water scarcity is seldom questioned in the debate around water distribution. In fact, water scarcity is a political matter concerning distribution. Hydraulic technology is hailed as a method to solve water scarcity. In this narrative, what is neglected is the value underlying the technology and the social relations reshaping water distribution. The other narrative of water commodification claims to let market dominate water distribution. Under pretexts of water scarcity and crisis, what water commodification meets is the demand of capital accumulation through the dispossession of nature.Water is closely related to public interest. How to distribute and provide water should be fully discussed in public. Government should not only guarantee the public’s access to information concerning water distribution and supply but also discursive and decisive power. As a part of right to life, whether water right is equally distributed matters both the life and livelihood of the public. Policy makers should be careful about the win-win expectation of rural industrialization which often presents the picture of winners and losers in practice. The concretized water rights of local people should be guaranteed to avoid being grabbed for economic growth under the name of development.