Water and Rural Communities ─ Local Politics, Meaning and Place

The overall theme of this book concerns the multiplicity and complexities of discursive constructions of water in western economies. The authors argue that the politics of place is given meaning in relation to local knowledges and within multiple and multiscalar institutional frameworks involved with the social, physical, economic and political practices associated with water. They are particularly concerned with water at the local level, including how it is exchanged, managed and given meaning. They show how water use and community relations are central to developing understandings about how communities will adapt and respond to policy developments in a variety of global settings. 

The work draws extensively on international research, to identify patterns and differences across continents which share similar water flows and the use of irrigation in farming. Two detailed case studies are included. An Australian case study of the Murray Darling Basin and Renmark Irrigation Trust is used to explicate meanings about the interstices between water and community in rural settings. The second is from the US in California, where federal laws and state programs are examined to understand the influence of irrigation policies on shaping rural communities. These case studies provide an international perspective from "new world nations" through which to examine the complexities operating within rural communities whose existence relies, at least in part, on water management practices which are themselves multiscalar and contested.

Lia Bryant is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology, Social Work and Social Policy, University of South Australia.

Jodie George is a Research Associate and Lecturer in Cultural Geography in the School of Communication, International Studies and Languages, University of South Australia.