Universität zu Köln

Krause, Franz ORCID: 0000-0003-0914-7060, Salverda, Tijo, Hollington, Andrea, Tappe, Oliver, Kloß, Sinah and Schneider, Nina (2017). Social Water. Köln: Global South Studies Center Cologne.

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Abstract

We encounter water every day. It is a vital substance biologically as much as socially. We may notice this in art exhibitions and university courses communicating submersed and subversive facts about water; the rhythms of floods and tides resonating with fishing techniques and conflict patterns; inundations carrying moral and political weight as much as water and pollution; and particular mixtures of water and land generating wealth, anxieties and memories. In short, wherever people deal with water, they are involved not only with a physical element, but also with social relations. In fact, whenever we pretend that water is foremost the molecule H2O, we ignore all the political, economic, infrastructural, emotional and legal aspects of this element without which water would not be what it is for us today. This issue explores some of the ways in which water is profoundly social, both in the sense of being co-produced by social life, and by being a core constituent of it. Some contributions to this issue do this through the examples listed above. Others illustrate the way water positions people and their perspectives. A few show how large water infrastructures reshuffle social lives. And some suggest that water may sometimes be better imagined as a word in the plural, rather than a singular, universal substance.

Item Type:	Book, conference item or legal commentary
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Krause, Franz f.krause@uni-koeln.de orcid.org/0000-0003-0914-7060 UNSPECIFIED Salverda, Tijo tijo@tijosalverda.nl UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Hollington, Andrea andrea.hollington@yahoo.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Tappe, Oliver otappe@uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kloß, Sinah s.kloss@uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Schneider, Nina nina.schneider@uni-koeln.de UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
Contributors:	Contribution Name Email Draftsman Rutz, Lasse lasse.rutz@uni-koeln.de
Corporate Creators:	Global South Studies Center
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-80363
Series Name at the University of Cologne:	Voices from around the world
Volume:	3/2017
Date:	19 December 2017
Publisher:	Global South Studies Center Cologne
Place of Publication:	Köln
Language:	English
Faculty:	Central Institutions / Interdisciplinary Research Centers
Divisions:	Global South Studies Center
Subjects:	Generalities, Science Philosophy Social sciences Political science Customs, etiquette, folklore Natural sciences and mathematics Earth sciences Life sciences Technology (Applied sciences) Photography and photographs Geography and history Geography and travel History of ancient world
Related URLs:	http://voices.uni-koeln.de
Refereed:	No
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/8141