Post-Neoliberal Nature? Community Water Governance in Peri-Urban Cochabamba, Bolivia

POST-NEOLIBERAL NATURE? COMMUNITY WATER GOVERNANCE IN PERI-URBAN COCHABAMBA, BOLIVIA by ANDREA JANET MARSTON B.A., Duke University, 2009 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Geography) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2012 © Andrea Janet Marston, 2012 Abstract Since the turn of the century, Bolivia has been undergoing a leftward political shift that many scholars have described as “post-neoliberal.” This shift is inflected with communitarian and ecological sensibilities, and politicians frequently depict “community” and “nature” as two axes around which a new, post-neoliberal world order can be imagined. The overarching purpose of this thesis is to explore the friction between the country’s putatively post-neoliberal politics and existing community water governance in Cochabamba, Bolivia. This is pursued through two sub-themes: a comparison of the government’s post-neoliberal rhetoric to its resource management policies; and a comparison of celebratory conceptualizations of community governance to the governance strategies of community-run water systems in La Maica, a region of peri-urban Cochabamba. The thesis argues that, while the Morales government rhetorically celebrates “community” and “nature” as essential pillars of post-neoliberal governance paradigm, reality differs from rhetoric in two ways. First, the Bolivian government’s natural resource agenda has involved a shift towards centralized, state-led management, rather than community governance. Second, actually existing examples of community resource governance are intertwined with non-community institutions and multiple scales of governance, implying that communities are contextually embedded and hybridized structures. The progressive (post-neoliberal) potential of community resource governance therefore depends on both its context-specific manifestation and the support that it receives from the state. Primary data for this thesis was gathered during four months of fieldwork in Cochabamba (June to October 2011), and the four methods employed were expert interviews, interviews with community leaders in La Maica, water user surveys in La Maica, and document analysis. ! ii! Preface This research was carried out following approval by the University of British Columbia’s Behavioural Research Ethics Review Board (BREB). The approval certificate number is H11-01029, and the Principal Investigator is Dr. Karen Bakker. This thesis represents original research and no part of it is published elsewhere. ! iii! Table of Contents Abstract................................................................................................................................................................ ii Preface................................................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents..............................................................................................................................................iv List of Tables......................................................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................................vii List of Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................ x Chapter 1: Introduction: Locating Community in the Peri-Urban 1.1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Purpose of Research............................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Governing (Urban) Water Supply...................................................................................................... 4 1.4 “Community,” Community Governance, and CBNRM ................................................................ 9 1.5 Peri-Urban Socio-Natures .................................................................................................................14 1.6 Case Study Site: Cochabamba, Bolivia ............................................................................................16 1.7 Methodology........................................................................................................................................21 1.7.1 Expert Interviews...........................................................................................................22 1.7.2 Community Leader Interviews (La Maica).................................................................22 1.7.3 Water User Surveys (La Maica)....................................................................................23 1.7.4 Document Analysis........................................................................................................23 1.8 Chapter Summaries ............................................................................................................................24 Chapter 2: Between State and Community: Bolivia’s Left Turn and Natural Resource Governance 2.1 Introduction: Fissures of the New Bolivian Left...........................................................................28 2.2 Neoliberal Natures and Latin American Post-Neoliberalism......................................................32 2.2.1 Neoliberal Natures.........................................................................................................32 2.2.2 Latin America: From Neoliberalism to Post-Neoliberalism?..................................35 2.3 Post-Neoliberalism in Bolivia ...........................................................................................................40 2.3.1 Post-Neoliberal Roots and the Shaping of Community in Bolivia ........................40 2.3.2 Post-Neoliberal Rhetoric and the Notion of Community.......................................47 2.3.3 Resource Governance in Bolivia: Centralization and Exploitation........................53 2.4 Bolivian Post-Neoliberal Natures?...................................................................................................58 2.5 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................................65 Chapter 3: Autonomous Community? Governance Strategies of Cochabamba’s Water Committees 3.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................................67 3.2 Community Resource Governance and Autonomy......................................................................70 3.3 The Biophysical and Political Waterscape of Cochabamba.........................................................74 3.4 Water Committees as Autonomous Alternatives ..........................................................................79 3.5 La Maica: Politics and Water.............................................................................................................83 3.6 La Fundación Aguatuya and Agua Para Todos..............................................................................87 3.7 Maica Central and the Agua Para Todos Project...........................................................................91 3.8 Autonomous Governance? ...............................................................................................................94 ! iv! 3.9 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................................97 Chapter 4: Scalar Negotiation and Visions of Water Governance in Cochabamba 4.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................100 4.2 Scalar Politics of Resource Governance, Community, and Water............................................102 4.3 From Neighborhood Associations to Recognized Water Providers........................................108 4.4 El Sueño de Misicuni........................................................................................................................114 4.5 Vision 1: Large-Scale, State-Driven ...............................................................................................120 4.6 Vision 2: Multi-Scalar, Community-Based....................................................................................125 4.7 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................130 Chapter 5: Conclusion: Community Governance in a Post-Neoliberal Context 5.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................132 5.2 Rhetoric vs. Policies: State Support of Community Resource Governance............................135 5.3 Imagined vs. Actual: Spatial and Temporal Embeddedness of Communities........................137 5.4 Community Governance in

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