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A politização da água – denunciando as desigualdades de poder envolvidas nas situações de conflito e na gestão das fontes de água e dos serviços baseados no uso da água – emergiu também como resposta aos esforços de “comodificação” da água, ou seja, sua transformação em mercadoria ou commodity, através da privatização de empresas distribuidoras e de saneamento, da mercantilização das formas de operação das próprias empresas públicas, e de outras políticas neoliberais que buscaram estabelecer, desde a década de 1980, um mercado global desregulado de águas e de serviços de água e esgotamento sanitário. Este artigo busca contribuir com a construção de uma alternativa aos enquadramentos dominantes do debate hídrico no semiárido brasileiro: das secas, do desenvolvimento e da convivência, todos eles vinculados ao “paradigma da oferta”. Tratar o tema da água em termos de direitos, cidadania e democracia força, necessariamente, uma reflexão sobre o papel que o Estado tem desempenhado neste início de Século XXI na América Latina e no semiárido brasileiro. A análise foi feita a partir da experiência de pesquisa e a vivência em campo conjugada às leituras e discussões em fóruns nacionais e internacionais. A América Latina está vivenciando um momento de incertezas no que se refere à água e outros serviços.

La pandemia de COVID-19 encontró América Latina en un contexto político muy desfavorable para los sectores populares y las comunidades históricamente marginalizadas, especialmente afrodescendientes e indígenas. Con pocas excepciones, se verifica una expansión de políticas regresivas, autoritarias e incluso criminales en muchos de estos países, que han debilitado o incluso desmantelado los limitados sistemas de solidaridad social institucionalizados. El artículo discute la noción de “solidaridades en confrontación” y pone énfasis en los elementos que dan cohesión a los grupos de poder responsables por estos procesos, particularmente la persistencia del darwinismo social y de diferentes formas de discriminación que sustentan la justificación y naturalización de las desigualdades estructurales. El trabajo examina ejemplos de estas formas de solidaridad al interior de los grupos dominantes, su expresión concreta en los planos discursivo y político, y su confrontación desde espacios de solidaridad alternativos, centrados en la defensa de la vida y en la lucha por la emergencia de órdenes sociales más justos y substantivamente democráticos.

This festschrift commemorates the legacy of UK-based Portuguese sociologist Herminio Martins (1934-2015). It introduces Martins’ wide-ranging contributions to the social sciences, encompassing seminal works in the fields of philosophy and social theory, historical and political sociology, studies of science and technology, and Luso-Brazilian studies, among others. The book features an in-depth interview with Martins, short memoirs, and twelve chapters addressing topics that were central to his intellectual and political interests. Among those that stand out are his critique of Thomas Kuhn’s theory of scientific revolutions, his work on the significance of time in social theory and the interweaving of techno-scientific developments and socio-cultural transformations, including the impact of communication and digital technologies, and of market-led eugenics. Other themes covered are Martins’ work on patrimonialism and social development in Portugal and Brazil, and his analysis of the state of the social sciences in Portugal, which reflects his highly critical appraisal of the ongoing marketization andneoliberalization of academic life and institutions worldwide.

O artigo analisa a valorização e a mercantilização da água doce. Se um conceito restrito de mercantilização éaplicado, a maior parte da água do planeta permanece não mercantilizada devido ao caráter lento e fragmentado do processo de racionalização de controle da água e de sua gestão. Particularmente, o processo envolvido na valorização da água é fortemente afetado pela persistência de certos pressupostos, como de que a água (e a natureza de um modo geral) não tem valor pré-econômico ou pré-social, ou que o volume de água doce disponível para os seres humanos é ilimitado e que a água tem o poder também ilimitado de autopurificação, ou que a água não é mais que um recurso de que os humanos podem se valer à vontade. O artigo argumenta que o controle da água e as atividades correlatas de gestão na maioria dos países não conseguem alcançar níveis de calculabilidade e de previsibilidade próprios dos processos capitalistas de mercantilização.

This article offers an overall synthesis of the contents of a number of selected papers on water governance and policy presented at the 5th IWHA Conference 'Pasts and Futures of Water' that took place in Tampere, Finland, on 13-17 June 2007. Therefore, the authors do not intend to present here their own views on the topics covered, which they have described in more detail elsewhere, but rather seek to capture the key issues emerging from the broad range of perspectives on water governance and policy that informed the papers presented at the Conference. There is growing consensus that the global water crisis is mainly a crisis of 'governance'. In most countries plentiful water resources can no longer be taken for granted. More and more people in an increasing number of countries are experiencing water differently - as a limited resource that must be carefully managed for the benefit of people and the environment, in the present and for the future. The emerging paradigm is one of resource constraints, conservation, and awareness of the fragility of water's life cycle. Yet, it is still open to debate what 'water governance' exactly means. Moreover, simple definitions of water itself have become obsolete and there is a heated global debate on the topic. Water has multiple functions and values, most of which are incommensurable. While in some of its uses water has increasingly become a commodity, in many other functions water takes the form of a social or public good. For many, the hydrosphere is a common good that must be governed and managed as such. Is the access to essential volumes of safe water a human right or not? Does it really matter? Water serves many roles depending on the wider political, economic, social, cultural and environmental context. Perhaps the crucial question is: Is there truly a new paradigm of water governance emerging, or are we simply engaging in delusionary rhetoric? Many signs all over the world suggest that the way water is perceived, governed, and managed is indeed changing, but the direction of this change is highly uncertain. This is reflected in the ongoing contradictions that characterise the global debates about water governance policy, some of which were captured in the papers presented at the IWHA Conference that we summarise here. The focus of this theme paper is on identifying some of the key building elements of water policy and governance, which we identified as a common thread running through the different presentations. The paper also explores the challenges and opportunities facing the international community for living up to the principles of democratic water governance in a context of increasing global uncertainty.

This paper examines key aspects of the policies promoting the expansion of private multinational monopolies as the main tool to solve the problems affecting water and sanitation services in less developed countries. It is based on recent findings from research carried out on the impact of these policies in nine countries of Africa, Europe, and Latin America. The article argues that the main claims put forward to justify these policies, that private sector participation provides the financial resources needed to improve the situation in developing countries and that these policies contribute to reduce social inequality in these countries, are not supported by the empirical evidence. The findings suggest that the international community cannot rely on private sector participation for achieving the development goals for water and sanitation, particularly in the poorer countries. The paper concludes that there is a need to learn from the past, when developed countries managed to achieve the universalization of essential services thanks to the convergence of a wide range of social and political forces, including free-market liberals, who accepted that essential services cannot be organized purely on market principles. It suggests that achieving similar success in LDCs will also require the amalgamation of a similarly broad and universalistic ensemble of social forces.

José Esteban Castro explores some of the main connections between social struggles over water and the exercise of substantive citizenship and democratic governance in Latin America. He focuses the attention on some of the key analytical distinctions for the study of water struggles in Latin America and elsewhere, and explores the ongoing and emerging trends characterizing these struggles. Development (2008) 51, 72–76. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100440

The article examines current global trends in the expansion of water and sanitation services, and discusses the systemic conditions affecting their provision. It pays particular attention to structural social inequalities affecting the access to these services, and to the inertial forces unleashed by neoliberal reforms in water and sanitation, which will continue to have a negative effect on the project of universalisation of these services. The article supports existing demands for the adoption of integrated approaches to the organisation of water and sanitation.

Há uma importante lacuna na literatura, sobre os conceitos centrais e as abordagens teóricas relativas à interface entre políticas públicas e a problemática do saneamento. Visando contribuir com o avanço do tema da formulação de políticas públicas para a área, com maiores efetividade e eficiência, o artigo desenvolve revisão da literatura relacionada. Entende-se que os elementos essenciais nesse enfoque são a necessidade de (i) integrar os aspectos técnicos com o processo de formulação e implementação de políticas públicas; (ii) incorporar na análise o papel dos condicionantes sistêmicos sobre tal processo. Atribui-se ênfase ainda à interdependência entre essas formulações e o contexto sócio-político-econômico em questão e ao conceito de que as políticas públicas devam ser formuladas e avaliadas considerando o saneamento como direito. São desenvolvidas duas frentes, em que se observa o potencial de contribuição dos conceitos das políticas públicas - a formulação de políticas e a avaliação de políticas. A conclusão assinala que o estudo das políticas públicas de saneamento nos países em desenvolvimento deve priorizar um determinado número de questões e desafios, que são brevemente discutidos.This article argues that there is an important gap in the literature regarding the central concepts and theoretical approaches dealing with the interface between public policy and environmental sanitation. Through a literature review, it explores how these approaches could be improved in order to make a contribution to the formulation of public policies that may increase effectiveness and efficiency in the field. The key points put forward are the need to: (i) integrate technical aspects with the process of formulation and implementation of public policies and (ii) include in the analysis the role of the systemic conditions and constraints in the process. The paper also places emphasis on the interdependency between policy formulation and the relevant socio-political-economic context, and provides insights for the development of rights-based approaches to the formulation and assessment of public policies in the environmental sanitation sector. The article also examines two fields in which the public policy debate can make important contributions: policy formulation and policy assessment. The conclusion suggests that the study of public policy in the environmental sanitation sector of developing countries should prioritize a number of questions and challenges that are briefly discussed.

This article focuses on the arguments used to support private sector participation (PSP) in the provision of water and sanitation services (WSS) since the 1980s. It addresses the following questions: what was the historical evidence informing the claim that promoting PSP would be the best instrument for reducing water poverty? What are the principles that provided the foundation for this claim? And, what has been the empirical record of the resulting WSS policies? It argues that early neoliberal WSS policies since the 1980s were not intended to expand services to the poor. A pro-poor rhetoric was added to these policies since the 1990s, probably as a result of increasing citizen unrest in developing countries and the failure of privatized WSS projects in the Americas and Europe. However, the claim that PSP can provide the solution to public sector failure in extending coverage of essential WSS to the poor has little ground both in the theoretical literature and in the historical record. As could have been expected from the accumulated knowledge about the relationship between market-driven WSS and the poor, the recent experience with PSP projects has been disappointing. In practice these policies not only have failed to extend these essential services to the poor but have also contributed to deepening existing inequalities of power resulting in the weakening of state, local government, and civil society capacities to exercise democratic control over private water monopolies in most developing countries. Reversing this imbalance is one of the crucial challenges ahead in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. However, the article argues that the inertial forces set in motion by the neoliberal model of water policy based on market-centred governance of water and WSS remains the crucial obstacle for the achievement of the goals.

ResumoO artigo objetiva oferecer uma visão histórica de fatores que induziram ou influenciaram as primeiras políticas públicas de saneamento e de recursos hídricos no Brasil. Um dos pressupostos adotados é o de que o desenvolvimento socioeconômico e político do país resultou não apenas de dinâmicas endógenas, mas também de estruturas globais de poder, desde os primórdios da empresa colonial. Para tanto, usa-se a linha teórica de intérpretes clássicos da história brasileira como Celso Furtado e Caio Prado Júnior e suas perspectivas sobre a posição periférica do país no sistema econômico global. O esforço analítico resultou na percepção de que a política de saneamento se desenvolveu em consonância com iniciativas e interesses europeus na área e de que, em diferente sentido, as políticas de recursos hídricos emergiram da necessidade de regular o uso da água, especialmente para privilegiar a geração de energia elétrica em um contexto de crise externa e de centralização administrativa. Resumen El artículo pretende ofrecer una visión histórica de los factores que indujeron o influyeron en las primeras políticas públicas de saneamiento y de recursos hídricos en Brasil. Una premisa adoptada fue que el desarrollo socio-económico y político del país no resultó sólo de la dinámica endógena, sino también de las estructuras de poder mundial desde los albores de la empresa colonial. Para ello, se parte de la línea teórica de intérpretes clásicos de la historia de Brasil y de sus puntos de vista sobre la posición periférica del país en el sistema económico global. El esfuerzo resultó en la percepción de que la política de saneamiento se desarrolló en consonancia con iniciativas y intereses europeos en el campo y que la política de recursos hídricos surgió de la necesidad de regular el uso del agua, especialmente la generación de electricidad en un contexto de crisis externa y de centralización administrativa. Abstract The article aims to provide a historical overview of the factors that induced or influenced early water and water and sanitation public policy in Brazil. The article starts from the assumption that the socioeconomic and political development of the country resulted not only from endogenous dynamics, but also from global power structures since the beginning of the colonial enterprise. For this purpose, the article follows the theoretical line of classic interpreters of Brazilian history, like Celso Furtado and Caio Prado Junior and their perspectives on the country`s peripheral position in the global economic system. The analytical effort led to the perception that early water and sanitation public policy was developed in accordance with European initiatives and interests in the area. Also, the water resources public policy emerged from the need to regulate the use of water, especially to prioritize the generation of electricity in a context of external crisis and administrative centralization.

The author focuses on the interrelations between access to urban water services and citizenship rights, taking the case of Mexico City Metropolitan Area as the empirical reference. Recent research has shown that social struggles over the access to and improvement of water services have been an important component of Mexican public life during at least the last twenty years. The author argues that mainstream explanations of the water crises tend to reduce the problem to its economic, technological, and physical – natural dimensions. Although the relevance of these factors affecting the provision of efficient and universal water and sanitation service is recognized the emphasis is placed on the socioeconomic and political inequalities that determine the exclusion of large sectors of the population from full access to essential living conditions, including water services.