Communal irrigation

A comparative perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID23720185
AuthorsRobert C Hunt (corresponding author)
Year2007
Pages185-208
Publication date2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueA world of water (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/9789004254015_008
OpenAlexW237220207
ISBN9789004254015
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

This chapter concentrates on the organization of people. It first describes the major concepts needed for a comparative study of irrigation, paying particular attention to those needed for communal irrigation. Second, the chapter summarizes the results of empirical studies. Third, it articulates a number of questions about communal irrigation which have not been addressed satisfactorily in the literature. The chapter further discusses the social organization which manages these irrigation systems. Communal and state spheres of influence are dynamic and at times contested. There are very large communal systems, and small state ones. Three forms of communal management have been isolated: Irrigation Communities; Municipios; and Districts. Communal systems are environmentally sustainable, but only when they are economically viable as well. Finally, 'occidental despotism' is the curious phenomenon whereby colonizing nations, with communal management at home, impose state management of water on their colonies. Keywords: communal irrigation; communal management; Municipios; occidental despotism; social organization

Biology · Economics · Environmental planning · Environmental resource management · Geography · Irrigation · Political science · Social organization · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science) · Ecology · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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