FROM WATER CRISIS TO WATER CULTURE

Abstract

Fresh water has gone through some significant changes over the past twenty years. What once had been sold by the gallon as an emergency storm supply in grocery stores in the U.S. is now marketed by the pint by global corporations. Public water supplies are increasingly pressured to privatize their services as local fresh water sources are bought by these same companies, and global trade agreements and international development organizations increasingly promote the privatization of fresh water supplies. Dr. Vandana Shiva has been a leading voice in the efforts to defend local water rights and promote new forms of “public-public” partnerships to protect fresh water supplies. For this issue of Cultural Studies, Dr. Andy Opel interviewed Dr. Shiva about the connections between culture and water, how our cultural attitudes shape our water use and how we might change those cultural habits to ensure clean water for the future.

Keywords:

• water
• globalization
• water culture
• earth democracy
• privatization

Acknowledgements

Andy Opel would like to thank Dr Michelle Laurents, Eric Welch and WVFS 89.7FM for their production assistance with this interview.

Notes

1. Water privatization was the number one most censored story in 2000, according to Project Censored [online].

2. Glennon (2004), Barlow and Clark (2003), and Ward (2002).

3. See Vandana Shiva's ZNet Homepage [online] and the Navdanya Homepage [online].

4. For a brief description of the movement, see Chipko Movement, India [online].

5. For more information on Haksar and this billboard, see Sharad Haksar [online] and India Resource Center [online].