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WRAP THESIS Castillo 2015.Pdf University of Warwick institutional repository: http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick http://go.warwick.ac.uk/wrap/77633 This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. WATER POLITICS IN EL SALVADOR Power, Water and Social Change in poor communities of San José Villanueva A thesis submitted to the University of Warwick for the degree of Ph.D. Carlos Salvador Zepeda Castillo May 2015 Department of Politics and International Studies DECLARATION No portion of the work in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification at this or any other university or other institute of learning. The thesis is entirely my own work. ABSTRACT This dissertation explores how social power relations affect poor, vulnerable people’s access to clean and sustainable water in El Salvador. It does so using an in-depth case study of people living in seven socially deprived rural communities of San José Villanueva, province of La Libertad, southern El Salvador. Drawing on several strands of social and political theory, the research conceptualises ‘power’ along three axes: on local/global, material/ideational and structure/agency lines. Using El Salvador’s neoliberal transition as its socio- historical backdrop, the research explores the power dynamics shown by water actor groups in positions of hegemony, counter-hegemony and social exclusion. The study shows how these water actors use strategies, tactics and actions along the three power axes. The thesis assembles empirical evidence from academic research; policy documents, media outlets and civil society sources; interviews with policy makers; and poor people’s narratives. The research argues that the current state of unequal power relations in water governance constitutes the main factor shaping poor people’s water access outcomes today. Five key knowledge contributions emerge from this enquiry. First, the thesis handles the concept of ‘power’ as a tool to enrich the traditionally depoliticised approaches regarding water access today in El Salvador. Second, the research builds an innovative conceptual synthesis on power, an ‘axes of power approach’. Third, the thesis provides new empirical evidence using an in-depth case study. Fourth, the study fills an existing gap in country-specific water politics knowledge. Finally, the research offers relevant knowledge in a key water governance period for El Salvador as policy-makers negotiate the country’s first General Water Law in its history. CONTENTS DEDICATION ............................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................... 11 LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... 14 LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... 15 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 17 Brief Overview: Water, People & Power in El Salvador ....................................................... 20 The Core Research Question ............................................................................................... 41 The Core Argument ............................................................................................................. 43 Contribution to Knowledge ................................................................................................. 44 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 47 2. HISTORICAL CONTEXT: WATER & POWER FLOWING FOR THE FEW .................. 77 Introduction: From Water Commons to Water Injustice .................................................... 77 Ungoverned Flows .............................................................................................................. 79 Misgoverned Flows: A State of Weak Water Governance................................................... 98 San José Villanueva: Thirsty for Water Justice .................................................................. 130 Conclusion: Colonising Water and People with Power...................................................... 140 3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: POWER THE MISSING LINK ............................... 144 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 144 Starting point: People, Power & Water ............................................................................. 146 Defining ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Access to Clean Water’ ....................................................... 156 Defining ‘the poor’ and ‘the vulnerable’ and their relation to water ................................ 158 Synthesis ........................................................................................................................... 161 Development studies legacy viewpoints ........................................................................... 165 Politics centred viewpoints ............................................................................................... 167 Explaining water poverty: The need for better theories ................................................... 172 Starting premises .............................................................................................................. 175 Explaining Power along Three inter-related Axes.............................................................. 176 The Local/Global Power Axis ............................................................................................. 179 The Material/Ideational Power Axis .................................................................................. 186 Integrating the Axes of Power ........................................................................................... 203 4. MARGINAL COLLECTIVES: STRATEGIES OF RESILIENCE ................................... 207 Introduction: Poor people’s Power to Access Water ........................................................ 207 Who is who? A Profile of Marginal Collectives .................................................................. 209 Local/Global Axis: Institutional Maze Runners Seeking Water .......................................... 228 A Material-Ideational Axis: Dirty Water, Dirty World ........................................................ 236 Agency/Social Structure Axis: Water or Golf? ................................................................... 251 Conclusions: Winning Battles But Not The War ................................................................ 266 5. HEGEMONIC WATER ACTORS: STRATEGIES OF DOMINANCE ......................... 268 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 268 Local/Global Axis of Power: Going Viral With Quantum Leaps ......................................... 269 I. Material/Ideational Axis of Power ............................................................................ 286 Agency/Social Structure Power Axis .................................................................................. 298 II. Findings and Conclusions ......................................................................................... 302 6. COUNTER-HEGEMONIC WATER ACTORS: STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE .......... 304 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 304 A Map of Social Actors ...................................................................................................... 315 Types of Social Practices ................................................................................................... 328 Agency/Social Structure Power Axis .................................................................................. 339 Local/Global Power Axis .................................................................................................... 345 Material/Ideational Power Axis ......................................................................................... 357 Conclusions: Power Interactions & Outcomes .................................................................. 362 7. CONCLUSION: WATER INJUSTICE BUILT BY POLITICAL STALEMATE ................ 367 Poor People’s Odyssey for Water Access: A Journey of Power ......................................... 368 Going Upstream: What this Thesis Researched ................................................................ 368 Reviewing the Findings: Power Relations Dam Poor People’s Water Access ..................... 372 How this research’s findings challenge pre-existing knowledge ....................................... 385 Lessons Learnt from the Research .................................................................................... 387 8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 394 LIST OF INTERVIEWS .........................................................................................................
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