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Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit |  | Author: Vandana Shiva
Publisher: South End Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $7.98
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Seller: backpack_books
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 23768
Media: Paperback
Pages: 158
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 089608650X
Dewey Decimal Number: 333.91
EAN: 9780896086500
ASIN: 089608650X
Publication Date: February 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Vandana Shiva, "the world's most prominent radical scientist" (the Guardian), exposes yet another corporate maneuver to convert a critical world resource into a profitable commodity. Using the global water trade as a lens, she highlights the destruction of the earth and the disenfranchisement of the world's poor as they lose their right to a life-sustaining common good.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
 Original, Grounded, a Foundation Book August 27, 2010
Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States)
Published in 2002, this is a foundation book within the twelve books on Water that I am reading, with all reviews both here and at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog where you can easily use Reviews/Water to see all my reviews of books on water.
Right up front the author impresses me with her discussion of the paradigm war--a culture clash--between those who see water as sacred and its provision as a duty for the preservation of water, and those that view water as a commodity and its exploitation for profit as a fundamental corporate right.
Up front she lists and discusses the key lessons she has drawn:
01 Nondemocratic economic systems that centralize control over decision making and resources and displace people from productive employment and livelihoods create a culture of insecurity.
02 Destruction of resource rights and erosion of democratic control of natural resources, the economy, and means of production undermine cultural identity. See my reviews of the Hidden Wealth of Nations, Identity Economics, and The Politics of Happiness.
03 Centralized economic systems also erode the democratic base of politics.
I am sure she sets people off when she speaks of the "double fascism of globalization" as well as "corporate terrorism" but the bottom line is that corporate control of government is fascism, and its time We the People woke up to all the wrong that is being done "in our name." Those who really understand ecological economics as pioneered by Herman Daly understand that "true cost" is the measure, and that the truth at any cost reduces all other costs. This is a book of truths, including the truth that the computer industry is a bigger water polluter than traditional companies.
The entire book is a "tour of the horizon" that captures the essence of what is covered in more depth in the other books listed below. I am especially taken with her Principles of Water Democracy:
01 Water is nature's gift
02 Water is essential to life.
03 Life is interconnected through water.
04 Water must be free for sustenance needs.
05 Water is limited and can be exhausted.
06 Water must be conserved.
07 Water is a commons.
08 No one holds a right to destroy.
09 Water cannot be substituted.
The author skirts topics covered in more depth in such books at The Next Catastrophe: Reducing Our Vulnerabilities to Natural, Industrial, and Terrorist Disasters; and Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America, so this is by no means an end all book, but it is a foundation book. We are the ones responsible for environmental degradation including the paving over of wetlands and the damming of rivers as well as the ignorant and complacent externalization by corporations of all environmental costs of water exploitation they do not own and should not be allowed to expropriate.
Chapters on the global corporate control network including the World Bank, and on the unsustainable costs of industrialized agriculture. Her final two chapters (this is a short book, quick read, excellent notes) focus on the importance of both indigenous knowledge in conserving every drop of water, and on the importance of assuring that natural resources are properly valued and not just commoditized with financial values that are at best arbitrary if not downright corrupt. I am reminded of both 1491, and of E. O. Wilson's The Future of Life.
Other books I have reviewed or am reviewing this week include:
The Atlas of Water, Second Edition: Mapping the World's Most Critical Resource
Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource
The World's Water 2008-2009: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources
The Evolution of the Law and Politics of Water
Governing Water: Contentious Transnational Politics and Global Institution Building (Global Environmental Accord: Strategies for Sustainability and Institutional Innovation)
Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization
Blue Gold: The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World's Water
Whose Water Is It?: The Unquenchable Thirst of a Water-Hungry World
Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water
The Blue Death: The Intriguing Past and Present Danger of the Water You Drink
 Inspiring, but be wary, readers May 15, 2009
Angela R. Magnusson (St. Peter, MN)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Resource scarcity has been the basis of arguably most of the world's deadliest and longest-lasting conflicts. 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. 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.
In an expressive manner, Shiva introduces the recent water problems as rooted in major shifts in the management of this resource. The first chapter sets-up the dichotomy between the traditional management of water and a market-based approach to resource ownership. According to Shiva, "more than any other resource, water needs to remain a common good and requires community management" (19). 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. A change in management principles, from a communally-held necessity to a privately-owned commodity, lead to the complete disregard of inherent human rights. 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. 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. All of these chapters reassert how power in managing water has shifted from many hands to an elite few. Like in all wars, the conflicts presented here describe the definite threats to their security and livelihood with the loss of their personal control.
Water Wars is well thought-out and sincere approach to current water crises. My attention was held the entire time through the clever interplay of anecdotes, case studies, and hard science. The struggle between traditional systems and capitalism remained a pervasive theme throughout the book, and examples of injustice and abuse were constantly emerging. 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. Still, it goes without saying that this book definitely lacked as a piece of academic literature. 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. Even though it is only 139 pages, the book manages to become rather redundant by the end. Shiva never maintained an unbiased approach to the topic, making it a heavy-handed ridicule neocolonialism. I sometimes felt as if I were listening to a broken record. 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 also does an excellent job of weaving in cultural and spiritual attitudes towards water bodies.
In conclusion, Water Wars by Vandana Shiva is a thorough investigation of the social justice issues that surround the administration of water. 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. 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. If you are in the market for a book on sensational water politics, then look no further.
Informative but lacking... November 15, 2007
Benjamin Potter (Western Colorado)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
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. Shiva seems to believe that the root of all these wars is our disconnection from the water. We turn on a faucet and voila, water. Who cares where it came from, how much there is or where it's going. 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. She has the grassroots mentality that water need not be privatized but run and managed by the people who use it. I fully agree but the problem remains this is simply impossible for the majority of systems already entrenched.
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. I believe John Wesley Powell was quoted out of context on pg. 54. 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.
The Single Most Important Book You Can Read Today February 27, 2007
B. Olsen (Oregon, USA)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
the global water crisis is the biggest issue we will face in our lifetimes and not much is being done. This book puts things in a human light and makes solutions seem possible.
Stop Bottled Water Industries
Protect Global Commons
[...]
 Don't waste your money January 7, 2007
Protector (NY,NY)
2 out of 40 found this review helpful
Written by a so called academic, this is a series of essays which never should have been published. Over -priced and over reviewed, whoever approved of publishing this travesty should be fired.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 15
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