Synopses & Reviews
These three volumes present an original exploration of all aspects of water--social, cultural, political, religious, historical, economic and technological--from ancient times until the present day. Among the varied themes, the contributors examine the changing histories of water as a private or common good, the politics of water at local, urban, national and international level, water in cities, great river plans, dams, river biographies, and cultural constructions of water--images of water in religion, myth, literature and art. With empirical and ethnographic case studies from around the world the three volumes together represent one of the most complete and up to date accounts of the central role of water in the history and development of humanity.
About the Author
Terje Tvedt is Research Director in the Faculty of Social Science, University of Bergen and a Panel Member of UNESCO's World Water Assessment Program.
Eva Jakobsson is the Senior Research Scientist at Stavanger University College, Norway.
Table of Contents
VOLUME I: Great Plans * Seizing Favours From Nature: The Rise and Fall of Siberian River Diversions--D.F. Duke * The World's Largest Contiguous Irrigation System: Development, Successes and Challenges of the Indus Irrigation System in Pakistan--A.D. Khan & M.A. Kahlown * The Failure of Irrigation, Institutions and Technologies to Achieve Equitable Water Control in the Indus Basin--G. E. Van Halsema & V. Linden * Controlling the Waters in 20th Century China: The Nationalist State and the Huai River--D. Pietz| * The Chinese Way of Harnessing Rivers: The Yangtze River--F. Padovani * Water Control and Agricultural Development: Crafting Deltaic Environments in Southeast Asia--F. Molle & D. T. Tuan * Environmental Risk in Water Resource Management: A Multiscale Analysis of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam--F. Miller * Overcoming Nature and Man: Mechanical Cultivation in the Rufiji River Basin, Tanganyika--H.J. Hoag * Living With Water: Bangladesh Since Ancient Times--A. Kamal *
River Biographies * The Early History of a River: Mexico's Upper Lerma River--B.B. Schoendube * The History of the Tama River: Social Reconstruction--W. Steele * Seeing Like the Prussian State: Re-Engineering the Rivers of the Rhineland and Westphalia--M. Cioc * The River Has Recorded the Story: Living With the Hawkesbury River, Australia--B. Simmons * Poverty, Water and Environmental Degradation: The Langat River Basin,Malaysia--C. Siwar * Water Power in Early Norwegian Industrialization: The Aker River--E. Bagle *
Water in Cities * Water and Wastes in Mediaeval London--R. Magnusson * Defeating Water-Borne Epidemics in Oslo--T.A. Johansen * Critical Decisions in Pittsburgh Water and Wastewater Management--J.A. Tarr * Engineering the Technological Sublime: The Provision of Water For New York City--M. Gandy * Socio-Economic Implications of Water Supply in Nigerian Urban Centres--I.O. Adelekan * The Political Economy of Water Supply in Chennai, South India--E. Weber *
Organising Water * Keeping Running Water Clean: Mining and Pollution in Pre-Industrial Japan--P.G. Sippel * Waste or Want, Pure or Polluted: Issues in the Water History of 19th Century Trinidad--R.A. Pemberton * Salinity: The Failure of New South Wales to Learn From India--K. Proust * Management of Wetlands in Relation to River Basins--A Case Study From Southwest India--E.J. James * Aspects of Public Water Supply in Guernsey, Channel Islands--V. Gardiner * Emerging Problems and Strategies For Sustainable Freshwater Development in Coastal Areas--B.M. Sahni * The 'Mfongo' Irrigation Systems on the Slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania--M. Tagseth * Alkalinity, Salinity and California Irrigation: The Role of Eugene Woldemar Hilgard--W.E. Pittman *
Debating Water * The Rescue of English Wales and the Role of Environmental Pressure Groups--J. Hassan * Management of the Mekong River Basin: Contesting Its Sustainability From a Communication Perspective--M.T. Lang * The Bio-Bio Project and the Mapuche-Pehuenche People of Chile--I. Nordbø * Composite Water: The Cultural Construction of Rivers and the Violence of Modernisation in Delta Bangladesh--M. Mannan