Everywhere in the world communities and nations organize themselves in relation to water. We divert water from rivers, lakes, and aquifers to our homes, workplaces, irrigation canals, and hydro-generating stations. We use it for bathing, swimming, recreation, and it functions as a symbol of purity in ritual performances.

List of Figures List of Tables Notes on Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction John Richard Wagner Part I: Commodification Chapter 1. Contesting Equivalences: Controversies over Water and Mining in Chile and Peru Fabiana Li Chapter 2. Dam Nation: Cubbie Station and the Waters of the Darling Veronica Strang Chapter 3.  Water and Ill-being: Displaced People and Dam-based Development in India Lyla Mehta                  Part II: Water and Technology Chapter 4. Aesthetics of a Relationship: Women and Water Nefissa Naguib Chapter 5. La Pila de San Juan: Historic Transformations of Water as a Public Symbol in Suchitoto, El Salvador Hugo De Burgos Chapter 6. Not so Boring. Assembling and Reassembling Groundwater Tales and Technologies from Malerkotla, Punjab Rita Brara Chapter 7. Kenyan Landscape, Identity and Access Swathi Veeravali Part III: Urbanization Chapter 8. Health Challenges of Urban Poverty and Water Supply in Northern Ghana Issaka Kanton Osumanu Chapter 9. The Risk of Water: Dengue Prevention and Control in Urban Cambodia Sarah C. Smith Chapter 10. The Water Crisis in Ireland: The Socio-Political Contexts of Risk in Contemporary Society Liam Leonard Part IV: Governance Chapter 11. Fairness and the Human Right to Water: A Preliminary Cross-cultural Theory Amber Wutich, Alexandra Brewis, Sveinn Sigurdsson, Rhian Stotts, and Abigail York Chapter 12. Indigenous Water Governance and Resistance: A Syilx Perspective Marlowe Sam and Jeannette Armstrong Chapter 13.  Bureaucratic Bricolage and Adaptive Co-management in Indonesian Irrigation Bryan Bruns Chapter 14. Anthropological Insights into Stakeholder Participation in Water Management of the Edwards Aquifer in Texas John M. Donahue Index                 

“The Social Life of Water successfully addresses a wide range of issues concerning the meanings and uses of water in relation to culture, society, and development. As a volume, it shows how a focus on social life opens up new analytical possibilities of broader relevance to the study of water. Moreover, many of the chapters explore contexts and regions not previously covered in work on these topics.” · Journal of Royal Anthropological Institute “…this volume [is to be] recommended to readers interested in the anthropology of water and to those who wish to teach a course on the subject for both undergraduate and graduate students. The diversity of the topics covered in the book and the methodological and theoretical issues raised, provide several excellent teachable moments not to be missed. It also testifies to the richness of topics and ways in which the social lives of water can and should be explored by anthropologists in the future.” · Anthropological Notebooks “For anthropologists working in the water field, the book provides useful material to help the water field incorporate good social practice, research and theory into a transdisciplinary field currently interested in incorporating it into policy and management.” · Water Alternatives “This book fills an important niche on water related issues in anthropology by focusing on social and cultural manifestations of water management, use, and conflict… The organization is appropriate and effective.”  ·  Benedict J. Colombi, American Indian Studies Program, University of Arizona