Our Water Commons: Toward a New Freshwater Narrative

Abstract

"There are two competing narratives about the earth's freshwater resources being played out in the 21st century. On one side is a powerful clique of decision-makers, heads of some powerful states, international trade and financial institutions and transnational corporations who do not view water as part of the Global Commons or a public trust, but as a commodity, to be bought and sold on the open Market. On the other is a global, grassroots movement of local communities, the poor, slum dwellers, women, indigenous peoples, peasants and small farmers working with environmentalists, human rights activists, progressive water managers and experts in both the global North and Global South who see water as a Commons and seek to provide water for all of nature and all humans."