ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of networks in transboundary water cooperation. Foregrounding the understanding of diplomacy in terms of networked power, it engages with the notion of feminist diplomacy. While much has been written on women and transboundary water governance, limited systematic effort has been undertaken to explore how one feminises diplomacy and what feminist water diplomacy could entail. This chapter aims to address this question by exploring the intersections between diplomacy and network studies, using the Brahmaputra basin as an illustrative example. It argues that thinking through networks helps us to understand the processes, perspectives, and plurality of actors in arriving at collaborative outcomes and can be an appropriate instance for solidarity in politics. Thus, going beyond the governance–diplomacy binary, it advances a bottom-up understanding of networked power, with a focus on non-linear ways for understanding, doing, and conceptualising feminist diplomacy.
