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Justice in development? An analysis of water interventions in the rural South

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  • Jean‐Philippe Venot
  • Floriane Clement

Abstract

This paper explores a fruitful convergence between the distributive and procedural dimensions of environmental justice theory and current debates in the field of development studies over capitals and capabilities, institutions, and discourse formation to shed new light on natural resource management projects in the developing world. Specifically, we document the planning and implementation of two types of water interventions in two contrasting regions: watershed development programmes in northeast India and small reservoirs in sub‐Saharan West Africa. We find that there is a contradiction between the inherently political nature of water interventions and the fact that such projects remain grounded in apolitical, technical and managerial narratives. In contrast to the new semantic of development, this depoliticization results in the near absence of attention paid to procedural (participation and empowerment) and distributive (equity) justice concerns and in local actors having to revert to covert ways to achieve their ends. A constructive dialogue between development studies and environmental justice scholars can offer a fresh look on the society‐environment nexus in the developing world.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean‐Philippe Venot & Floriane Clement, 2013. "Justice in development? An analysis of water interventions in the rural South," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(1), pages 19-30, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:37:y:2013:i:1:p:19-30
    DOI: 10.1111/1477-8947.12002
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    Cited by:

    1. Diandian Hao & Ziyi Yan & Yanan Wang & Bowen Wang, 2022. "Effect of Village Informal Institutions and Cadre-Mass Relationship for Farmers’ Participation in Rural Residential Environment Governance in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Hoogesteger, Jaime & Bolding, Alex & Sanchis-Ibor, Carles & Veldwisch, Gert Jan & Venot, Jean-Philippe & Vos, Jeroen & Boelens, Rutgerd, 2023. "Communality in farmer managed irrigation systems: Insights from Spain, Ecuador, Cambodia and Mozambique," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    3. Duncan, Nicolette & de Silva, Sanjiv & Conallin, John & Freed, Sarah & Akester, Michael & Baumgartner, Lee & McCartney, Matthew & Dubois, Mark & Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali, 2021. "Fish for whom?: Integrating the management of social complexities into technical investments for inclusive, multi-functional irrigation," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    4. Vos, Jeroen & Boelens, Rutgerd & Venot, Jean-Philippe & Kuper, Marcel, 2020. "Rooted water collectives: Towards an analytical framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).

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