ABSTRACT
The main idea behind this book, as stressed in Chapter 1, is the subtle but fundamental difference between ‘water wars’ and ‘(urban) water conflicts’ (UWC). Within these pages, the theme has been addressed by scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds (economics, geography, social and political science) as well as different countries. The sole constraint was that the authors should examine cases in which the presence of organized water services based on physical infrastructure was decisive in framing the conflict, regardless of the kind of actors involved. Even the meaning of ‘conflict’ has been left deliberately vague, in order to encompass a wide range of situations: from violent opposition to political confrontation, from court litigation to social polarization, from competition and trade-offs (among models, ideas, cultures) to frontal opposition of parties and passions.
