Ben Orlove and Steven C. Caton. (2010) WaterSustainability:Anthropological Approachesand Prospects

Water has become an urgent theme in anthropology as the worldwideneed to provide adequate supplies of clean water to all people becomesmore challenging. Anthropologists contribute by seeing water not onlyas a resource, but also as a substance that connects many realms of sociallife. They trace the different forms of valuing water, examine the oftenunequal distribution of water, explore the rules and institutions thatgovern water use and shape water politics, and study the multiple, oftenconflicting knowledge systems through which actors understand water.They offer ethnographic insights into key water sites—watersheds, wa-ter regimes, and waterscapes—found in all settings, though with widelyvarying characteristics. Anthropologists provide a critical examinationof a concept called integrated water resource management (IWRM),which has become hegemonic in the global discourse of sustainabledevelopment.