Gender Dynamics in Transboundary Water Governance

This volume assesses the nexus of gender and transboundary water governance, containing empirical case studies, discourse analyses, practitioners' accounts, and theoretical reflections. Transboundary water governance exists at the intersection of two highly masculinised fields: diplomacy and water resources management. In both fields, positions are mainly held by men, and core ideas, norms, and guiding principles that are presented as neutral, are both shaped by men and based on male experiences. This book sheds light on the often hidden gender dynamics of water conflict and cooperation at the transboundary level and on the implicit assumptions that guide research and policies. The individual chapters of the book, based on case studies from around the world, reveal the gendered nature of water diplomacy, take stock of the number of women involved in organisations that govern shared waters, and analyse programmes that have been set up to promote women in water diplomacy and the obstacles that they face. They explore and contest leading narratives and knowledge that have been shaped mainly by privileged men, and assess how the participation of women concretely impacts the practices, routines, and processes of water negotiations. This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of water governance, water diplomacy, gender, international relations and environmental politics. It will also be of interest to professionals and policymakers involved in supporting gender mainstreaming in water cooperation. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Jenniver Sehring is Senior Lecturer in Water Governance and Diplomacy at the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, The Netherlands. She coordinates the joint Master programme Water Cooperation and Diplomacy and is an editor of the Central Asian Journal of Water Research (CAJWR). Rozemarijn ter Horst is Lecturer and PhD Researcher on data and models used for water management and governance at the Water Resources Management group at Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and is connected as visiting researcher to IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. Margreet Zwarteveen is Professor of Water Governance at the IHE-Delft Institute for Water Education and the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She is the co-editor of Drip Irrigation for Agriculture: Untold Stories of Efficiency, Innovation and Development (Routledge, 2017).

1. Introduction: (En-)gendering water diplomacy, Part 1: Rethinking Frameworks and Knowledge, 2. An interview with Dr. Mariana Yumbay Yallico, human rights activist in Ecuador, 3. Is Academic Knowledge Production on Transboundary Water Studies in South Asia Gender Neutral?, 4. A Gendered Perspective on the Multiple Scales of Water Conflict, 5. Thinking Through Networks: Towards a Feminist Water Diplomacy, Part 2: Gender Mainstreaming Policies in Transboundary Water Governance: Obstacles and Impact, 6. Adopting a Transformative Approach to Gender Equality in the Nile Basin: Lessons Learned, 7. In the Shadows: Gender in Transboundary Water Policies, Part 3: A Gender Perspective on Transboundary Water Institutions and Processes, 8. Gendered River Basin Institutions: the Chu-Talas Commission in Central Asia, 9. Assessing Transboundary Water Governance in the Rhine through a Gender Lens: The International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine, 10. The Role of Gender in the Transboundary Water Governance of the Nile Basin, 11. Negotiating Water: Lived Experiences of Female Practitioners, 12. Conclusion: Insights on gender dynamics in transboundary water governance