ABSTRACT
Irrigation and energy projects around the use of water have become symbols of hegemonic control, modernity and civilization, mostly because they are about iconic structures of dams and pipes, and the taming of water as one of the largest forces in nature. In line with the accumulation of economic power, today water remains generally instrumentalized as a 'resource' in the hands of the state, companies and so-called entrepreneurs and investors. Any disruptive interference with the water cycle outside of natural processes is seen from many activist perspectives as a crime against nature. Transferring of water from one basin to another, or storing it or diverting it is essentially stealing water. Hence the modernist dream of controlling water and using water for human benefit only through 'projects' is at the center of resistance. The utopian imagination is that of a society which lives within the natural resilience of an ecosystem.
