Running Head: Gender Dimensions of Community-Managed Water Systems
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Running head: Gender dimensions of community-managed water systems Gender Dimensions of Community-managed Water Systems: Gender-water Realities in Peri-urban Cochabamba, Bolivia Kate Salimi A thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of M.A. International Development and Globalization School of International Development Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © Kate Salimi, Ottawa, Canada, 2015 GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY-MANAGED WATER SYSTEMS ii Table of Contents List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. v List of Figures................................................................................................................................ vi Legend........................................................................................................................................... vii Abstract........................................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgements........................................................................................................................ ix Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 Research Questions..................................................................................................................... 3 Case Study Site: Cochabamba, Bolivia ...................................................................................... 4 Notions of Community in Urban Water Governance: Alternatives to Privatization.................. 5 “Community”, Gender and Participatory Development ............................................................. 9 Gendered Alternatives to Water Service Delivery.................................................................... 10 Chapter Outline......................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2: Methodological and Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................ 12 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 12 Epistemological Foundations: Conducting Feminist Research ................................................ 13 Research for Women, not on Women................................................................................... 13 Challenging Methodological Conventions ........................................................................... 14 Reflexivity............................................................................................................................. 15 Power Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 15 Research Methods..................................................................................................................... 16 Participant Observation......................................................................................................... 17 Semi-structured and Unstructured Interviewing................................................................... 18 Textual Analysis ................................................................................................................... 20 Theoretical Framework............................................................................................................. 20 GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY-MANAGED WATER SYSTEMS iii Feminist Political Ecology: The Micropolitics and ‘Everydayness’ of Water ..................... 21 Women and the Politics of Place: Beyond the ‘Everydayness’ to Women’s Agency.......... 24 Practical Gender Needs and Strategic Gender Interests ....................................................... 25 Chapter 3: From Bolivia’s Neoliberal Period to Leftward Shift: An Historical Analysis............ 30 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 30 Bolivia’s Neoliberalizing Policies of the 1980s and 1990s ...................................................... 30 Bolivia’s Post-Neoliberal Roots ............................................................................................... 33 Cochabamba’s Guerra del Agua............................................................................................... 34 Women’s Role in the Water War: La Supermadre................................................................... 37 The Aftermath of the Cochabamba Water War: Envisioning Alternatives .............................. 41 Chapter 4: Gendered Analysis of Water-service Delivery in the Zona Sur.................................. 43 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 43 Case Study Site: Cochabamba – The Biophysical and Political Waterscape ........................... 44 Cochabamba’s Zona Sur........................................................................................................... 46 District 14, Villa Sebastian Pagador ......................................................................................... 48 Water Service Delivery in the Zona Sur: The ‘Everydayness’ and Micropolitics of Water .... 49 Aguateros, or Water Delivery Trucks................................................................................... 49 Gendered Health and Economic Consequences of Aguatero Water Service Delivery ............ 51 Community-owned and Governed Water Systems: Cochabamba’s Water Committees.......... 53 Women’s Involvement in the Zona Sur Water Committees..................................................... 56 “Vamos las mujeres, pero estamos contadas”: Participatory Exclusion in the Zona Sur Water Committees ............................................................................................................................... 57 The Role of NGOs: Improving Livelihoods and Building Capacity ........................................ 63 Addressing Women’s Interests Beyond Practical Water Interests in Satélite de Norte ........... 65 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 69 GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY-MANAGED WATER SYSTEMS iv Chapter 5: Conclusion................................................................................................................... 71 Appendices.................................................................................................................................... 74 i. Map of Bolivia and Departments of the City of Cochabamba .............................................. 74 ii. Access to the Municipal Water supply in Cochabamba and its Municipalities, in Percentage............................................................................................................................. 75 iii. Principle Sources of Contamination to Ground Water and Surface Water in Cochabamba.............................................................................................................................. 76 iv. Semi-structured Interviews.................................................................................................. 77 v. Sample Interview Questions ................................................................................................. 78 vi. Asociación Yaku Meeting Outline for Women-only Spaces and PPT Presented to the OTB Satélite Norte ............................................................................................................................ 81 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 83 GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY-MANAGED WATER SYSTEMS v List of Tables Table 1: Population, Area and Population Density of the Zona Sur and Municipality ................ 47 Table 2: Comparison of Zona Sur Water Committees and SEMAPA.......................................... 56 GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY-MANAGED WATER SYSTEMS vi List of Figures Figure 1: Salimi, Kate (2013): City centre, District 12................................................................. 45 Figure 2: Salimi, Kate (2013): Zona Sur, District 14 ................................................................... 46 Figure 3: Peñaranda, Ida (2013): EPSA-PDA aguatero, District 14............................................ 50 Figure 4: Peñaranda, Ida, (2013): Corina Vásquez in her neighbourhood, District 14 ................ 58 Figure 5: Peñaranda, Ida (2013): Sonia Colque attending a water committee member ............... 64 Figure 6: Boris, Rios (2013): Women-only meetings, Satélite Norte........................................... 67 GENDER DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNITY-MANAGED WATER SYSTEMS vii Legend ASICASUDD- Departmental Association of Community Water Systems of the South, the EPSAS Water and Sanitation Service Providers of Cochabamba (Asociación de Sistemas Comunitarios de Agua de Sud Departamental y Entidades Prestadoras de Servicio de Agua y Saneamiento de Cochabamba) Asica-Sur Association of Community Water Systems of the South (Asociación de Sistemas Comunitarios