ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 engages with the effects of biopolitical strategies of governing in water management. It explores, through a narrative methodology, the effects of the hydromentality of eThekwini in terms of lifestyles, subjectivities, and social hierarchies. Central to this analysis is how the narrators make sense of different technologies of governing, technological artefacts, policies, and subtler governing techniques, such as information and training. What we learn from the water users’ narratives is that water is not only important for survival, immediate needs, and health, but is also vital for making people feel comfortable, safe, and good about themselves. We also learn that water governance is biopolitically performative through the water users’ production of notions of Self and Other, as well as distinctions between different forms of lives and lifestyles. The chapter shows how technologies of government shape notions of ethical selves and an ethical allocation of water. It contends that the biopolitics of eThekwini exacerbate the differences between individuals and populations, and that the way (ir)responsible and (un)sustainable subjects are constructed is highly related to issues of class, race, and gender.
