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Defining, researching and struggling for water justice: some conceptual building blocks for research and action

Author

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  • Margreet Z. Zwarteveen
  • Rutgerd Boelens

Abstract

This article provides a framework for understanding water problems as problems of justice. Drawing on wider (environmental) justice approaches, informed by interdisciplinary ontologies that define water as simultaneously natural (material) and social, and based on an explicit acceptance of water problems as always contested, the article posits that water justice is embedded and specific to historical and socio-cultural contexts. Water justice includes but transcends questions of distribution to include those of cultural recognition and political participation, and is intimately linked to the integrity of ecosystems. Justice requires the creative building of bridges and alliances across differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Margreet Z. Zwarteveen & Rutgerd Boelens, 2014. "Defining, researching and struggling for water justice: some conceptual building blocks for research and action," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 143-158, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rwinxx:v:39:y:2014:i:2:p:143-158
    DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2014.891168
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    Cited by:

    1. Abeer Abazeed, 2023. "Heterogeneity of Water Justice and the Question of Nile Solidarity," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 12(2), pages 187-205, June.
    2. C. J. Higgs & T. R. Hill & R. Meissner, 2025. "Equity in water resource management: A theoretical dynamism," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(3), pages 2736-2752, August.
    3. Anderson, Heather K. & Price, Heather & Staddon, Sam, 2023. "Water poverty in a ‘Hydro Nation’: Exploring distributional and recognitional water injustice in Scotland," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Elmira Valipour & Hamed Ketabchi & Reza Safari shali & Saeed Morid, 2024. "Water Resources Allocation: Interactions Between Equity/Justice and Allocation Strategies," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 38(2), pages 505-535, January.
    5. Seijger, Chris & Hellegers, Petra, 2023. "How do societies reform their agricultural water management towards new priorities for water, agriculture, and the environment?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    6. Hofmann, Pascale, 2022. "Toward equitable urban water supply and sanitation in Dar es Salaam: The dialectic relationship between policy-driven and everyday practices," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Vishal Narain & Sumit Vij & Timos Karpouzoglou, 2023. "Demystifying piped water supply: Formality and informality in (peri)urban water provisioning," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(6), pages 1066-1082, May.
    8. Vos, Jeroen & Boelens, Rutgerd & Venot, Jean-Philippe & Kuper, Marcel, 2020. "Rooted water collectives: Towards an analytical framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    9. Lucero Radonic & Adriana Zuniga-Teran, 2023. "When Governing Urban Waters Differently: Five Tenets for Socio-Environmental Justice in Urban Climate Adaptation Interventions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-19, January.
    10. David A McDonald, 2016. "The weight of water: Benchmarking for public water services," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2181-2200, November.
    11. Thomas Thaler & Thomas Hartmann, 2016. "Justice and flood risk management: reflecting on different approaches to distribute and allocate flood risk management in Europe," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 83(1), pages 129-147, August.
    12. Zhuolin An & Shangyi Zhou, 2022. "Trialectics of Spatiality: The Negotiation Process between Winter Swimmers and the Municipal Government of Beijing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-19, May.
    13. Shrestha, Gitta & Clement, Floriane, 2019. "Unravelling gendered practices in the public water sector in Nepal," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 21(5):1017-.
    14. Karina Vink, 2014. "Transboundary water law and vulnerable people: legal interpretations of the 'equitable use' principle," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 743-754, September.
    15. Tung-Shan Liao & Chia-Hang Ruei, 2025. "Semantic Governance Under Climate Stress: A Situational Grounded Model of Local Agricultural Irrigation Coordination in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-30, August.
    16. Somaye Imani & Mohammad Hossein Niksokhan & Reza Safari Shali, 2026. "Just water reallocation for the environment and agriculture: a translation of Rawls theory of justice," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    17. Nektarios N. Kourgialas, 2025. "Reconsidering the Soil–Water–Crops–Energy (SWCE) Nexus Under Climate Complexity—A Critical Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, September.
    18. Ward, Frank A. & Potter, Nicholas A. & Hrozencik, R. Aaron, 2025. "Managing agricultural water use in the Western United States: A search for efficient climate adaptation institutions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    19. Gao, Chen & Bracken, Gregory & Herdt, Tanja, 2023. "Balancing water rights in metropolitan water conservation areas: the case of Chengdu, China," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Latest Ar, pages 1-20.
    20. Leonardo Bertassello & Marc F. Müller & Adam Wiechman & Gopal Penny & Marta Tuninetti & Michèle C. Müller-Itten, 2023. "Food demand displaced by global refugee migration influences water use in already water stressed countries," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    21. Filippo Menga & Michael K. Goodman, 2022. "The High Priests of Global Development: Capitalism, Religion and the Political Economy of Sacrifice in a Celebrity‐led Water Charity," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(4), pages 705-735, July.
    22. Gildas Sènamèdé Aizannon & Gildas Hervé Adoté Akueson & Ismail Moumouni-Moussa, 2024. "Does the Emergence of Private Actors in the Potable Water Market Reduce Inequalities and Improve Access? A Critical Analysis Based on a Case Study in Selected Municipalities of Benin," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(12), pages 2620-2636, December.

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