ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the current controversies over access, control, use, and ownership of water in the Nile River by examining the imaginaries, social norms, cultural values, and narratives rooted in the national boundaries of two of its basin states, Ethiopia and Egypt. Diverging symbolic meanings of the river Nile are assessed in terms of historical experiences and discourse formation, as well as their inclusion within/exclusion from hydro-political strategies. Towards this end, the analysis compares the narratives that have emerged in both countries in order to shed some light on the role that different sub-national images play in the (mostly sanctioned) national water discourses. At the same time, the chapter aims at unveiling how cultural specificities and historical legacies contribute to frame the regional dispute over the Nile waters at the sociopolitical crossroad between development priorities, diplomatic negotiations and water policies. In the end, whether popular imaginaries over the Nile flows have informed policy-making processes or – vice versa – power elites have intentionally re-constructed those images into an ideological dimension to serve political interests, constitute the focus of the chapter.
