Diverting Flow ― Gender Equity and Water in South Asia

South Asia’s significant water resources are unevenly distributed, with about a fifth of the population lacking adequate access. Across the region this vital substance determines livelihoods and in some cases even survival. By revealing the extent to which water access depends on power relations and politics, Diverting the Flow offers new perspectives on the relationship between gender equity and water issues in South Asia.

Drawing on empirical research and relevant theoretical frameworks, the contributors show how gender intersects with other axes of social difference—such as class, caste, ethnicity, age, and religion—to shape water use and management practices. Each of the volume’s six thematic sections begins by introducing key concepts, debates, and theories before moving on to parse such issues as rights, policies, technologies, and intervention strategies. Taken together, they demonstrate that gender issues are the key to understanding and improving water distribution and management practices in the region. Featuring work by leading scholars in the field, this volume will be essential reading for students and scholars of water, gender, and development in South Asia.

Margreet Zwarteveen is a researcher and lecturer in the Irrigation and Water Management Group of Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Sara Ahmed works for the Canadian International Development Research Center regional office in New Delhi. Suman Rimal Gautam is a water resources specialist at an international development consulting firm based in Washington, DC.