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Experiments and Counter-Experiments in the Urban Laboratory of Water- Supply Partnerships in India

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  • Govind Gopakumar

Abstract

Karen Bakker has characterized the scattered islands of networked water supply that are common in the cities of the global South as ‘archipelagos’. Those living outside of archipelagos utilize a variety of interventions, collectively referred to here as tendrils, to access water by informal means. Neoliberal imperatives driving infrastructure transformation aim to alter the paradigm of water-supply provision to diminish its plural composition and effectively transform tendrils into archipelagos. In this article, developing a conceptual and methodological synthesis between Science and Technology Studies (STS) and political ecology, I study the emergence of public-private partnerships in India as laboratories in the marketization of water-supply provision. These partnerships, initiated at local scales, aim to enroll informal water users into standardized modes of water-supply provision and effectively expand the archipelagos of modernity. I draw upon empirical research of a water-supply partnership in the city of Bengaluru, describing some of the characteristics of the experimental processes, and argue that they simultaneously forward the marketization of water-supply services while inadvertently providing opportunities for residents, local associations and activists to form networks of counter-experimentation. The description of these political acts, this article concludes, provokes re-examination of the efficacy of an instrumental understanding of water partnerships, but requires closer policy engagement with ‘governance failures’ that are rife in water-supply provision.

Suggested Citation

  • Govind Gopakumar, 2014. "Experiments and Counter-Experiments in the Urban Laboratory of Water- Supply Partnerships in India," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 393-412, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:38:y:2014:i:2:p:393-412
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/1468-2427.12076
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Lejla H Pihljak & Maria Rusca & Cecilia Alda-Vidal & Klaas Schwartz, 2021. "Everyday practices in the production of uneven water pricing regimes in Lilongwe, Malawi," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(2), pages 300-317, March.
    2. Amelia Clarke & Andrew Crane, 2018. "Cross-Sector Partnerships for Systemic Change: Systematized Literature Review and Agenda for Further Research," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 303-313, June.
    3. Gregory Pierce, 2020. "How collectively organised residents in marginalised urban settlements secure multiple basic service enhancements: Evidence from Hyderabad, India," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(9), pages 1940-1956, July.
    4. Julie Gamble, 2017. "Experimental Infrastructure: Experiences in Bicycling in Quito, Ecuador," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(1), pages 162-180, January.
    5. Lima, Sónia & Brochado, Ana & Marques, Rui Cunha, 2021. "Public-private partnerships in the water sector: A review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Diganta Das & Tracey Skelton, 2020. "Hydrating Hyderabad: Rapid urbanisation, water scarcity and the difficulties and possibilities of human flourishing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(7), pages 1553-1569, May.
    7. Mary Lawhon & David Nilsson & Jonathan Silver & Henrik Ernstson & Shuaib Lwasa, 2018. "Thinking through heterogeneous infrastructure configurations," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 55(4), pages 720-732, March.
    8. Andrew Karvonen & Bas Heur, 2014. "Urban Laboratories: Experiments in Reworking Cities," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 379-392, March.

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