Abstract
During the Water War in 2000, residents of Cochabamba, Bolivia, famously mobilized against water privatization and gained back public control of the city’s water utility. Nearly two decades later, the water movement’s vision of democratic water provision under the participatory management of ‘social control’ remains largely unfulfilled. This paper points to the difficulties in rebuilding a strong public water service in Cochabamba, focusing on the different—and often incompatible—understandings and interpretations of public participation. Addressing the concept’s malleability to a spectrum of ideologies, this paper builds a typology of different kinds of participation according to their intentionality, outcomes, tools, and practices. Applying this framework to the water politics in Bolivia serves to untangle competing perspectives of participation, uncover whose interests are served, and which groups are included or excluded from access to water and decision-making. This analysis reveals how transformative participation has failed to take hold within the municipal service provider in Cochabamba.
Highlights
The trend of water remunicipalization in several cities around the world demonstrates the enthusiasm for, and viability of, public alternatives for water service delivery [1,2]
I argue that these formal mechanisms were based on the demands for transformative participation that grew out of popular unrest, they have resulted in nominal participatory practices that have served to work against meaningful change
This paper posits that these formal mechanisms were based on the claims for transformative participation that grew out of popular unrest, the mechanisms have resulted in nominal participatory practices that have served to work against meaningful change, de-radicalizing social movements in the process [55]
Summary
The trend of water remunicipalization in several cities around the world demonstrates the enthusiasm for, and viability of, public alternatives for water service delivery [1,2]. The city’s water company SEMAPA returned to public hands under control of the municipal government, attempts to overhaul the company and democratize water management have been largely unsuccessful. Informed by doctoral fieldwork conducted in Bolivia, this paper seeks to build on the growing literature of remunicipalization with an analysis of the efforts to rebuild public water services in Cochabamba. During the 2000 mobilization in Cochabamba, the water movement shared a vision of democratic water provision, framed by demands for ‘social control’(or control social). Demands for social control in Cochabamba’s water management revolved around mechanisms for democratic participation including local stewardship and community engagement in the water provider’s operations. I contend that the difficulty in rebuilding a strong public water service in Cochabamba partially stems from different—and often incompatible—understandings and interpretations of these concepts of public participation. Whose interests are served, which groups are included or excluded from access to water is tied to the question of public control over natural resources
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
