ABSTRACT
Social and environmental justice awareness movements surrounding fresh waters in the twenty-first century have included religious and cultural value paradigms that challenge basic presuppositions of late capitalist political economies. The appeal of these movements is not merely in the opposition to dominant forms of economic globalization and governance but also reflects positive constructions about the kind of thing that water is understood to be, the values that it carries, the relations that it facilitates, and the human obligations that follow. These formulations are often distinct from, and in some cases incommensurable to, the practices and presumptions of dominant political economies and water governance frameworks. This chapter examines how several cultural-religious stances for considering fresh water’s significance align with, intersect strategically with, or conflict with those dominant governance frameworks. Four sections structure the essay: (1) the rallying cry of mni wiconi and intersectional #NODAPL advocacy at Standing Rock; (2) the conferral of legal personhood to the Whanganui River in Aotearoa; (3) an interlude on the philosophical frameworks that undergird the United Nations’ articulation of a Human Right to Water (HRW) in contrast to the Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth; and (4) the Catholic Church’s emphatic endorsement of the HRW, with recent corollary exhortations about the value of Indigenous knowledge. The chapter draws out differences as well as overlapping insights from these endeavors while also delineating necessary humilities for white, Western scholars (such as myself) or institutions (such as the Catholic Church) that wish to honor and support varied viewpoints on fresh waters’ ontologies and values that are expressed by Indigenous peoples.
