Women and Water Governance in Peri-Urban Settlements
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Women and Water Governance in Peri-Urban settlements A case study from the community Caltongo in Mexico City Ida Ingmansson Supervisor: Onyanta Adama Globalization, environment and social change Department of Human Geography Stockholm University SE-106 91 Stockholm/Sweden Abstract Water insecurity is one of the biggest socio-environmental challenges of our time. As water gets scarce, already disempowered groups become further marginalized. Throughout the last decades “good” water governance has been presented by global institutions and organizations as a key concept to render water management more effective, sustainable and democratic. However, general theories of “good” governance have been criticized for being gender-blind and for failing to recognize how governance is adopted at a local level, leading to different outcomes for people based on their social identity. The aim of this thesis is to identify water governance arrangements in Caltongo, a peri-urban community in Mexico City, and analyze what outcomes these arrangements have for women. The thesis builds on a feminist political ecology framework that cuts through both theory and method. Empirical data is collected through semi-structured interviews with women and community leaders in Caltongo. The analysis builds on a model that uses three concepts to define governance: resources, mechanisms and outcomes. The results of this analysis show that the strategies that women in Caltongo draw from to access water are based around political involvement, cash payment for water services and social networks. The outcomes are different for different women depending on their ability to use these strategies. Key words: Water insecurity, water governance, peri-urban interference, feminist political ecology Acknowledgements First and foremost, I want to thank all the women and men in Caltongo who generously opened their doors to me and shared their time and their stories. You gave me invaluable insights about Caltongo and what it means to live with water insecurity. A big thank you to Liliana Ortiz and Isabela Rojas, who guided me and assisted me in the interviews. Thank you so much for taking the time to guide me around Caltongo, introducing me to all the interviewees and sharing your knowledge about the community with me! Without you this thesis would not have been possible to realize. I will also be eternally grateful to the Autonomous National University of Mexico for letting me write my thesis there and I especially thank Dr. Adrián Aguilar Martínez and Dr. Flor López Guerrero for supervising me throughout the field work. I would also like to send my thanks to the engineer Miguel Angel Florez for helping me to elaborate the cartography for this thesis! Last but not least, thank you to my wonderful friends Lisa Heller and Juan Mendez for once again hosting me during my stay and making me feel so welcome! Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 4 List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ 6 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 7 1.1 Statement of purpose ........................................................................................................ 8 1.2 Delimitations .................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Outline of thesis ............................................................................................................... 8 2. Theoretical framework ......................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Water Governance .......................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Water Governance as a theoretical framework for the thesis......................................... 12 2.2.1 Resources ................................................................................................................ 13 2.1.2 Mechanisms ............................................................................................................. 13 2.1.3 Outcomes ................................................................................................................. 14 2.1.4 Processes and agency .............................................................................................. 14 2.3 Feminist Political Ecology ............................................................................................. 14 3. Background about Mexico ................................................................................................... 16 3.1 Mexico - a country of contrasts ...................................................................................... 16 3.2 Gender relations in Mexico ............................................................................................ 16 3.3 Water insecurity in Mexico City .................................................................................... 18 3.4 “Good” water governance in Mexico ............................................................................. 19 3.5 Water governance and the Peri-Urban Interference ....................................................... 21 4. Presentation of field study case: Barrio Caltongo ................................................................ 24 5. Methodology ........................................................................................................................ 28 5.1 Methodology and research design .................................................................................. 28 5.1.1 Choice of case study ................................................................................................ 29 5.1.2 Semi-structured interviews ...................................................................................... 29 5.1.3 Implementation........................................................................................................ 30 5.1.4 Ethics ....................................................................................................................... 33 5.2 Field study dilemmas ..................................................................................................... 34 5.3 Interview analysis ........................................................................................................... 34 6. Results .................................................................................................................................. 35 6.1 Resources ....................................................................................................................... 35 6.1.1 Non-material resources ........................................................................................... 35 6.1.2 Material resources ................................................................................................... 38 6.2 Mechanisms .................................................................................................................... 41 6.5 Outcomes for women ..................................................................................................... 44 Outcomes from political participation.............................................................................. 45 Outcomes from mechanisms of cash payment ................................................................. 46 Outcomes from mechanism of social networks ............................................................... 46 7. Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 48 8. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 50 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 51 List of Figures Figure 1. Model for water governance according to Cleaver and Hamada (2010) .................. 13 Figure 2. Map over Xochimilco, provided by Miguel Angel Florez ....................................... 24 Figure 3. Map over Caltongo, provided by Miguel Angel Florez............................................ 26 Figure 4. List of interviewees ................................................................................................... 32 Figure 5. Results: water governance in Caltongo .................................................................... 35 Figure 6. The image shows Magdalena holding a bottle filled with water from a public hydrant. The water is yellow and had a strong odour of sewer. ............................................... 37 Figure 7. The first picture illustrates how a woman transports water from a public water outtake on a tricycle. The second picture shows a cistern that is used to store water outside the house........................................................................................................................................