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A review by tonstantweader
Whose Water Is It, Anyway?: Taking Water Protection Into Public Hands by Maude Barlow
4.0
Whose Water Is It Anyway? Taking Water Protection Into Public Hands is a history of the water conservation and justice movement rooted in anti-privatization and a call to worldwide action. It begins with the neoliberal move toward privatizing public services pushed by conservative governments. For example, in the U.K., the government would not fund infrastructure without the local government agreeing to privatize it. The federal government in Canada tied their water funding to privatization as well, but that was recently reversed, or perhaps given a 90° turn. They still encourage public-private partnerships but do not mandate them. Privatization has resulted in higher prices and degraded water quality and in water being sent off to other markets, bringing on the possibility of future water shortages. Water privatization has spread worldwide.
In addition to the growing privatization of water, there is the exponential growth of people drinking bottled water. People even drink bottled water at home where they have perfectly good tap water.
The next chapter focuses on resistance campaigns to turn back the tide of privatization and push for public ownership and conservation She describes several campaigns around the world, creating a global movement for water justice, pushing the idea that all people have a right to clean, affordable drinking water.
This led to the Blue Communities movement pushing local governing bodies to promise publicly-owned water, recognize water is a right, and ban bottled water on local government properties and events. Barlow traces that movement in Canada and in Europe and its future around the world. The book includes model language for Blue Communities resolutions.
While I was aware of the need for water conservation and of many of the predatory practices of water companies throughout the world. Nestlé tried to grab the water from Cascade Locks here in Oregon and was fought to a standstill. However, this book is a sobering look at how far privatization has penetrated the world water supply and how conservative governments have forced privatization on an unwilling public.
The first two and the last chapters are the most interesting. The many local campaigns were, I am certain, exciting as they happened, but are not the most interesting reading. However, there are some particular local circumstances that provide useful examples for those wishing to make their own hometown a Blue Community. That’s the point of the book, to encourage readers to local action, to spread the Blue Communities movement everywhere. Barlow provides the essentials for anyone wishing to join the movement and work to make their own community Blue.
I received an ARC of Whose Water Is It Anyway? from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.
Whose Water Is It Anyway? at ECW Press
Maude Barlow
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/9781770414303/
In addition to the growing privatization of water, there is the exponential growth of people drinking bottled water. People even drink bottled water at home where they have perfectly good tap water.
The next chapter focuses on resistance campaigns to turn back the tide of privatization and push for public ownership and conservation She describes several campaigns around the world, creating a global movement for water justice, pushing the idea that all people have a right to clean, affordable drinking water.
This led to the Blue Communities movement pushing local governing bodies to promise publicly-owned water, recognize water is a right, and ban bottled water on local government properties and events. Barlow traces that movement in Canada and in Europe and its future around the world. The book includes model language for Blue Communities resolutions.
While I was aware of the need for water conservation and of many of the predatory practices of water companies throughout the world. Nestlé tried to grab the water from Cascade Locks here in Oregon and was fought to a standstill. However, this book is a sobering look at how far privatization has penetrated the world water supply and how conservative governments have forced privatization on an unwilling public.
The first two and the last chapters are the most interesting. The many local campaigns were, I am certain, exciting as they happened, but are not the most interesting reading. However, there are some particular local circumstances that provide useful examples for those wishing to make their own hometown a Blue Community. That’s the point of the book, to encourage readers to local action, to spread the Blue Communities movement everywhere. Barlow provides the essentials for anyone wishing to join the movement and work to make their own community Blue.
I received an ARC of Whose Water Is It Anyway? from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.
Whose Water Is It Anyway? at ECW Press
Maude Barlow
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2019/09/30/9781770414303/