INTERNATIONAL RIVER GOVERNANCE THROUGH THE LENS OF “HYDROSOCIAL TERRITORIES”
WANG Yu1, ZHANG Wen-ya2, LIU Xiao-feng3
1. Center for Social Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China;
2. Department of Government and Public Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China;
3. Department of Geography, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
Abstract The governance of international river is an important geopolitical issue due to its economic, social and ecological attributes. Most existing research approaches this subject from the perspectives of realism and institutionalism, which mainly focus on water-related conflicts and cooperation among different sovereign nations. Hegemonic stability and hydro-hegemony are salient theoretical examples that were conceived and developed under realistic and institutional thinking. Based on the dialectical and relational thinking of political geography, this article reviews the theoretical discussions and controversies of international river governance. It introduces the conceptual framework of"hydrosocial territories"and its application in the geopolitical analysis of international rivers. This framework investigates the spatial deployment of power and explores the natural-society relationship from four previously underexamined analytical dimensions. First, power exercises apply at multiple scales and involve interconnections and interdependence across scales. Second, the deployment of power exists in physical, institutional, and representational spaces that jointly shape rules, narratives, and meanings of water. Third, the essence of water governance is defined by relationship networks that include and exclude different actors. Last, hydrosocial territories are fluid, constructed, and contested, encapsulating diverse forms of power exercises.
WANG Yu,ZHANG Wen-ya,LIU Xiao-feng. INTERNATIONAL RIVER GOVERNANCE THROUGH THE LENS OF “HYDROSOCIAL TERRITORIES”[J]. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, 2022, 37(2): 41-49,102.
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