The unintended consequences of ecological modernization : debt-induced reconfiguration of the water cycle in Barcelona

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
In this paper we first present a review of the recent literature on private participation in the water sec-tor in order to show the complex ways and forms through which this may proceed. Second, we introduce the governance and management architecture of the urban water cycle in Barcelona. Then we move to the construction of the hegemonic discourse on the need to reconfigure the water administration, opening the door to private capital. In the following section we trace and discuss how debt has increased as a result of ecological modernization imposed mostly by European Directives coupled with inadequate financing of the water cycle. Finally, we discuss what may be learnt from Barcelona that could be relevant for theoretical debates around the neoliberalization of water and of nature in general and for empirical debates on the forms taken by private participation in the water cycle in a context of debt-induced austerity.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Environment and planning A, issn : 0308-518X, 2013, vol. 45, n°. 9, p. 2064-2083, nombre de pages : 20, Références bibliographiques : 5 p.

Date :
2013

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, London, Pion