ABSTRACT
Our approach to hydropolitics is based on the idea that water is more than just a material substance (H2O): water is physically manipulated by humans in multiple ways (for example, by dams that modify watercourses) and seen in particular ways by different people (such as spiritual meanings attached to water). These changes and attitudes, in turn, are shaped by the vested interests and particular goals of social groups who endeavour to inf luence water provision. As such, water embeds and ref lects power relations: water f lows, patterns of allocation, types of infrastructure, design of policies and dominant arguments will all be configured by particular motives and perspectives (Swyngedouw, 2004).
