ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between water and modernity. It outlines three grand narratives of water and development in the 20th century that all carry features of modernity. These narratives illuminate the role and the overwhelming importance of water in development processes under a certain form of modernity. The first is the birth, export and regime of major infrastructure works for water harnessing, in particular the prevalence of mega-dams for energy, irrigation and flood prevention. Secondly, we will assess the “green revolution” and its reliance on irrigated, and industrialized, agriculture, with remarkable results from the 1950s and onwards. Thirdly, we will describe how water was the foundation for the functioning of major cities through massive and highly sophisticated water and sanitation systems, and which significance this still have. The chapter also discusses how this form of modernity has been challenged at the beginning of the 21st century, which is marked by a new paradigm that emphasizes sustainability generally and demand management specifically. Ultimately, however, the chapter argues that the core assumptions of modernity continue to steer development in the water sector.
