|
This book, however, is not a stepping stone into the scientific and academic assessment of water crises; it is far too loaded with personal voice and opinion to be considered a candidate for unbiased literature. There were times when I had to put the book down because my sentiments and emotions were on high alert; Shiva uses her grace and knowledge to present issues from India, a place so near to her heart. The first chapter sets-up the dichotomy between the traditional management of water and a market-based approach to resource ownership. Water Wars is well thought-out and sincere approach to current water crises. In an expressive manner, Shiva introduces the recent water problems as rooted in major shifts in the management of this resource. In her home country of India and in many other traditional societies throughout time, this was, and in a few remaining cases, is still the wisdom that dictates the use of water. I sometimes felt as if I were listening to a broken record. Resource scarcity has been the basis of arguably most of the world's deadliest and longest-lasting conflicts.
A change in management principles, from a communally-held necessity to a privately-owned commodity, lead to the complete disregard of inherent human rights. My attention was held the entire time through the clever interplay of anecdotes, case studies, and hard science. Shiva never maintained an unbiased approach to the topic, making it a heavy-handed ridicule neocolonialism. Even though it is only 139 pages, the book manages to become rather redundant by the end. People began to take a backseat to corporate interests, and Shiva structures chapters 2-5 as forum to analyze how the alteration of management has led to intense conflict. From wars waged in the Democratic Republic of Congo over precious minerals to multinational conflicts between countries along the Tigris and Euphrates, the access and control of resources have been causes in substantial loss of ecological integrity and human lives. In her book Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution and Profit, Vandana Shiva demonstrates the deadly effects of current water resource management practices and the "water wars" that have risen from recent policies. In conclusion, Water Wars by Vandana Shiva is a thorough investigation of the social justice issues that surround the administration of water.
Still, it goes without saying that this book definitely lacked as a piece of academic literature. The struggle between traditional systems and capitalism remained a pervasive theme throughout the book, and examples of injustice and abuse were constantly emerging. All of these chapters reassert how power in managing water has shifted from many hands to an elite few. It is an excellent text for someone desiring a positional account of resource allocation and management, as well as an involved activists perspective on the topic.
Shiva also does an excellent job of weaving in cultural and spiritual attitudes towards water bodies. If you are in the market for a book on sensational water politics, then look no further. Yet, her solutions for altering the way we manage water are inspiring, calling for citizens to become engaged in the fight towards gaining shared power of natural resources. Shiva defines water wars as being either a traditional war, fought with weapons and strategy, or a paradigm war, a subtler conflict with deep roots in socioeconomic systems.
Although this was a very impassioned and comprehensive book, I found Water Wars to be written rather haphazardly and with little regard to academic integrity. Like in all wars, the conflicts presented here describe the definite threats to their security and livelihood with the loss of their personal control. According to Shiva, "more than any other resource, water needs to remain a common good and requires community management" (19). Broad topics she expands upon in this section of the book include climate change, the diversion and damming of rivers, the production of food, and large international governing organizations such as the World Trade Organization and the World Bank.
Who cares where it came from, how much there is or where it's going. I believe John Wesley Powell was quoted out of context on pg. Shiva seems to believe that the root of all these wars is our disconnection from the water.
I fully agree but the problem remains this is simply impossible for the majority of systems already entrenched. 54. Ultimately, if you have an interest in the state of water on a global scale this is a good book to get you started and asking questions.P.S.
After reading Water Wars and going back through some things in the book I believe that many people will find this book interesting and informative. She has the grassroots mentality that water need not be privatized but run and managed by the people who use it. I have a hard time imagining that Powell said that rivers are wasting into the sea in the context of we should dam the Colorado.
We turn on a faucet and voila, water. Now, take that and mix it with socio-political-economic factors and you can see why we are just beginning to see the emergence of water wars.Those looking for any sort of solution to water wars should look elsewhere.
This book puts things in a human light and makes solutions seem possible.Stop Bottled Water IndustriesProtect Global Commons[.]. the global water crisis is the biggest issue we will face in our lifetimes and not much is being done.
Over -priced and over reviewed, whoever approved of publishing this travesty should be fired. Written by a so called academic, this is a series of essays which never should have been published.
Instead of working for hours to get water, the farmers could have used the motor to pump only what they needed, saving time and labor for other tasks. Shiva doesn't have passion, she does. Fine. For those trying to learn about the problems concerning water and water usage, there are plenty of other sources that present information without overt ideology and bias. Shiva is unable to persuasively write for change, that she has no real arguments, just partisan ideology.
While she may have a personal preference to use humans for manual labor, blaming the little motor (and by extension, the modernization involved) is intellectually dishonest.As another example, she mentions how the evil United States would not approve the Kyoto Treaty. One does not need to accept or deny Kyoto as an example of an efficient or effective solution to global warming, but given the partisan ideology presented in Water Wars, one can never be sure Ms. Shiva notes that the motor does damage, she seems unwilling to address the obvious: the farmer who turned the motor on could just as easily have turned the motor off, thereby avoiding the damage. has not.
Shiva would have done her readers a favor and written a fascinating book if she had simply applied the intellectual rigor of her physics training to her thesis--whatever that was. While Ms. are run by corporations; only real democratic community control will solve these problems." The quote is representative of many social critics: argument by cliche--the discourse ends as quickly as it begins. For example, she repeatedly mentions the use of a small, electric motor to pump enormous amounts of water far more efficiently that human beings can. In contrast to what others have written, this book is brutal.
Shiva presented any information fairly or accurately.Furthermore, Ms. Shiva also seems focused on spiritual matters at the expense of making her case. Shiva's ideology is so apparent one has to wonder what she has left out. Shiva continues with such platitudes as, "The corporation's selfish desire for profit causes all the problems; the WTO, World Bank and U.S. For example, she includes a multi-page appendix of the ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT different names for the Ganges River.
It isn't that Ms. It isn't that she cannot write, she can. Shiva may be right. Shiva often closes her argument in her topic sentences, for example on page 87, "Not only has the World Bank played a major role in the creation of water scarcity and pollution, it is now transforming that scarcity into a market opportunity for water companies." Or comments such as this on page xiii, "This forced apportion of resources from people is a form of terrorism--corporate terrorism." Comments like this suggest Ms. Ms. But with writing like this, they will never be heard except by those who already agree.Sadly, Ms.
For those that want their ideology reinforced, this book is wonderful. There could be 763 of them--not one of which would matter if the locals drain the river for crops or if Halliburton drains the river and sells it back to them.As a former physicist, Ms. `Nuff said.
Frankly, who cares how many names there are. The book is brutal because it is painfully one-sided, seemingly written for no other reason than to pander to those that think as she does.While the book highlights examples of water mismanagement, Ms. Unfortunately, environmental thinkers like Ms.
Yet she never notes that many people consider Kyoto to be fatally flawed--it exempts China, India, and others from emissions limits. Eventually said motor pumps more water than the system can replace and does damage. She is right the U.S.
|
