Water and rights: state management in South Africa and India
Abstract
This chapter examines the relationship between citizens mobilizing for their rights to water in South Africa and India and the ways in which state policies may hinder the acquisition of socio-economic rights, even where the policies themselves are ostensibly aimed at promoting the socio-economic interests of the poor. The ways in which poor communities mobilize to claim rights is essential to understanding how socio-economic rights make a difference to the lives of the poor, but the other side of the equation is what state actors’ responses are to different types of mobilization in relation to problems of policy implementation. This chapter illustrates that even when such rights are upheld by international laws, as well as national policies, they may still have to be fought for by ordinary citizens, and may be denied by the state in a number of ways.
Owing to copyright restrictions, only the first 3 pages are attached, together with a link to the book at Zed Books.
Citation
Mehta, L.; Thompson, L.; Nleya, N. Water and rights: state management in South Africa and India. In: Citizenship and Social Movements: Perspectives from the Global South.. Zed Books, London, UK (2010) ISBN 9781848133884