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Center for Natural Resources and Sustainability DKU

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Year: 2013


Trading capitals? Bourdieu, land and water in rural Uzbekistan

Year: 2013

Collections: Research Paper

Topics: Water, Water governance

Authors: Michael Eichholz, Kristof Van Assche, Lisa Oberkircher, Anna-Katharina Hornidge

Countries: Uzbekistan

Source: Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

This article analyzes the governance of land and water resources in rural Uzbekistan through the lens of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological theory. The authors explore how farmers adapt to post-socialist reforms and successive waves of land consolidation by relying on different forms of capital, including social, political, and symbolic capital. The study demonstrates that, in the absence of an open market and transparent rules, access to resources becomes the outcome of continuous negotiations and exchanges of favors. Under conditions of high uncertainty, social networks and proximity to political authorities prove to be more important than direct financial investments. As a result, the rural economy is transformed into a complex system of personal arrangements, where the survival and success of farming households depend on farmers’ ability to convert their informal assets into actual access to land and water resources.


Reducing conflict in development and allocation of transboundary rivers

Year: 2013

Collections: Research Paper

Topics: Water, IWRM, Transboundary Water Resources

Authors: Shokhrukh-Mirzo Jalilov, Saud A. Amer, Frank A. Ward

Countries:

Source: Eurasian Geography and Economics

This article explores opportunities for water scarcity to motivate neighboring nations in transboundary basins to cooperate in the development and allocation of water. Climate change raises the importance of discovering foundations for this cooperation. The authors examine the development of infrastructure and allocation of water in the controversial Amu Darya Basin.


Water and Energy Issues in the Context of International and Political Disputes in Central Asia

Year: 2013

Collections: Research Paper

Topics: Water, Transboundary Water Resources, Transboundary cooperation, Hydropower

Authors: Sanat Kushkumbayev, Azina Kushkumbayeva

Countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan

Source: Chinese Journal of International Law

This paper discusses the failure of past regional and sub-regional treaties to resolve these ossifying conflicts of interest, and explains that only a truly multilateral convention might allow these nations to collectively determine a way forward which satisfies all parties.


The Geographical Dimensions of Hydro-politics: International Freshwater in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia

Year: 2013

Collections:

Topics: Transboundary cooperation, Hydropower, Hydropolitics Irrigation,

Authors: Shlomi Dinar

Countries:

Source: Eurasian Geography and Economics

The article focuses on the role of geography and the relative power of states in international hydropolitics. The author analyzes how a country’s position within a river basin — upstream or downstream — affects its ability to participate in water negotiations. It is often assumed that a state with greater military and economic power can dictate the terms of water allocation. However, the author shows that geographical location is also an important source of power. Even a weaker state, if it is located upstream, can influence the water regime and challenge the existing status quo.


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