Social Movements, Constitutional Implementation, and the Restructuring of Water Governance in Ecuador and Bolivia
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“We won but we lost”: Social movements, constitutional implementation, and the restructuring of water governance in Ecuador and Bolivia Eli Cain Advisor: Craig Borowiak April 23, 2018 A thesis submitted to the Department of Political Science of Haverford College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts i Acknowledgements I have so many people I need to thank for their help with this project: First, I need to thank my thesis advisor, Craig Borowiak. Over the course of this year, I quickly learned the value of having such a dedicated advisor. You spent countless hours helping me refine my topic, ideas, and argument. I was lucky to get to work with you. Craig was not the only one I relied on to write this thesis. My mom and Sanjay provided a nurturing sounding board for my ideas. Thank you both for answering my calls at all times of the day and listening to my incomplete thoughts. Thank you to my dad whose constant, unwavering, love and support mean more to me than he knows. Thank you to Kaziah White, for everything. I cannot list all the ways in which you support me, but I am grateful that I have you to encourage me during my moments of despair and celebrate with me during my moments of exaltation. Thank you to the entire Haverford College Political Science faculty, especially Zach Oberfield, Anita Isaacs, and Paulina Ochoa Espejo. I am honored that I got to learn from each one of you. Finally, thank you to my suitemates, I could not have asked for better friends. You have been the best part of my college experience. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................ ii Chapter I: Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 Organization of This Paper ........................................................................ 5 Chapter II: Relevant Literature .............................................................................. 7 Politics of Water ........................................................................................ 8 Neoliberalism ............................................................................................. 12 Intersection: Water Privatization ............................................................... 16 Governmental Functions ............................................................................ 18 Intersection: Water Governance ................................................................ 22 Social Movements ...................................................................................... 23 Intersection: Social Movements Created in Response to Water Governance ..................................................................................... 29 Case Selection ............................................................................................ 31 Hypothesis.................................................................................................. 32 Chapter III: Neoliberalism in Latin America ......................................................... 34 Economic Reforms..................................................................................... 34 Political Implications ................................................................................. 37 Articulating Alternatives ............................................................................ 37 Bolivia ........................................................................................................ 40 Ecuador ...................................................................................................... 41 Chapter IV: Privatization in Latin America ........................................................... 45 Water Privatization .................................................................................... 46 Ecuador ...................................................................................................... 48 Bolivia ........................................................................................................ 53 Chapter V: Reactions to Water Privatization in Latin America ............................ 56 Ecuador ...................................................................................................... 56 The Rise of Rafael Correa: The Unlikely Revolutionary .......................... 59 Bolivia ........................................................................................................ 64 Election of Evo Morales ............................................................................ 68 Chapter VI: Potential Hypotheses .......................................................................... 71 Governmental Operations .......................................................................... 71 Social Movements ...................................................................................... 75 iii International Influence ............................................................................... 78 Local Politics ............................................................................................. 79 Chapter VII: Political Integration, Policy Creation, and Accountability .............. 82 The Feedback Loop.................................................................................... 82 Political Integration .................................................................................... 83 Policy Influencers ...................................................................................... 90 Ability of Social Movements to Implement Constitutions ........................ 104 Chapter VIII: Conclusion ....................................................................................... 109 Social Movements in Politics..................................................................... 110 Water Governance in Ecuador and Bolivia ............................................... 112 Water Governance Worldwide .................................................................. 113 Bibliography .......................................................................................................... 117 Appendices ........................................................................................................ 128 iv Chapter I: Introduction “El agua es vida; cuidala” - Sign outside of Cotacachi, Ecuador, shown in Appendix 1 As I drove from Cotacachi, Ecuador back to the capital city, Quito in the fall of 2016, I saw a sign which read: “El agua es vida; cuidala.” This translates to “water is life; protect it.” What struck me about this sign was how it encapsulated two critical aspects of water issues: the necessity of water to human life, and the necessity to develop water policies that manage, distribute, conserve, and protect the natural resource. Climate change, population growth, and migration patterns all compound the need to proactively develop effective water policies. Until the 21st century, the international community largely ignored this need. It was not until the 1970’s that the international community recognized the human right to clean water. In 1977, the United Nations (UN) declared that everyone has “the right to have access to drinking water in quantities and of a quality equal to their basic needs.”1 In 2002, the United Nations issued a General Comment clarifying its position on water: “The human right to water entitles everyone to sufficient, affordable, physically accessible, safe and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses.”2 Despite the international attention on clean water access, by the start of the 21st century, the number of people worldwide without clean water was still staggeringly high. Following a 2004 report that indicated over 1.1 billion people lacked access to clean drinking water, the UN declared an “International Decade for Action; Water for Life” from 2005-2015. 1 José Esteban Castro, “Urban Water and the Politics of Citizenship: The Case of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area during the 1980s and 1990s,” Environment and Planning A 36, no. 2 (February 1, 2004): 327–46, https://doi.org/10.1068/a35159. 2 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “Refworld | General Comment No. 15: The Right to Water (Arts. 11 and 12 of the Covenant),” Refworld, accessed February 7, 2018, http://www.refworld.org/docid/4538838d11.html. 1 This move catapulted clean water access into the public limelight, where celebrities like Matt Damon and Jay-Z joined the cause, cementing its status as a minor cause célèbre. In 2010, fueled by the international attention bestowed on the issue, the UN released its strongest statement yet on water access. Resolution 64/292 states: “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.”3 By situating clean water access in the pantheon of human rights, the UN dramatically increased the legal and moral imperative for nations to provide clean water to their citizens. For a while, it appeared the international focus on the issue had paid off; halfway through the Decade for Action, the number of people without access to clean water had dropped to approximately 884 million (a drop of over 300 million in just five years).4 Yet, soon after, the mercurial public interest in the issue waned and progress slowed. Today, nearly a decade after the UN passed resolution 64/292, approximately 844 million people still lack access to safe drinking water, only