ABSTRACT
This chapter deals, the never-ending tug-of-war between the forces of normalization and resistance. Resistance to such political, cultural and sociotechnical alignment takes shape, every day, through con-fusion by multiple, diverse actors in strategic water community undercurrents. They challenge solitude and individualization through collective action and bonds of mutual obligations, defy visibilization through undertows and rootstock resistance, by strategically formulating identities and ethnicities. Rootstock strategies and practices mean that most Andean water communities are not what they are, or seem to be. The user's counter proposal to INERHI regulations mainly had an outward function, directed to officialdom: it served the user's counter-proposal mimicry strategy and the purpose of obtaining legal recognition. As Ines Chapi explains: Rosa said that Licto would be left without water, all the communities were organized and Licto was not. The greatest challenge to all existing institutions, including water laws, rights and organizations, is not that they are publicly contested but that they are left aside and neglected.
