#7 - Decommodifying Water and Concluding Remarks
While the issues surrounding Africa and water are inextricably multifarious, the focus has been to narrow down on a particular challenge which communities in Africa face and contribute to the academic literature pertaining to that issue. Through this series of blog posts I have questioned the relationship between gender, water and the development of communities across Africa with a particular focus on issues concerning under-development, time poverties and their entanglement within privatisation schemes. When it came to the topic of water procurement, provision and management, ideas of gender parity and equality were particularly powerful in underscoring the social, cultural and structural forces which engender these roles in the first place. It will be exceptionally interesting in the future to see how these African societies, in places like Tanzania and Namibia, begin to develop and the impact that this has on gender parity.
What has been of paramount importance to this blog is the indelible focus on advancing capabilities. While this is not newly trodden territory, it has created a lens in which to view and critique the current development initiatives within Africa, privatisations and future development initiatives in a way which allows the subject to be approached with intrigue and vigour. With regard to the current and prospective future for men and women and the advancing of their capabilities, the panacea lies deeply entwined in issues of water provision and access. There is much left to discuss when it comes to the expansive theoretical and empirical arguments around privatisations in the African water industries, but as is evident here and in popular and academic discourses, the sentiment is deeply negative. Reformations and restructuring these governing bodies and corporations may well hold the key to solving a large majority of the issues which both urban and rural parts of Africa face. Further, grounding a portion of this blog in the mentalities of government and the underlying philosophy has created an interesting insight into topics of justice, rights and fairness which definitely holds the key to creating egalitarian communities across the parts of Africa discussed.
If one was able to disregard the impending completion date for these posts, future posts would look to delve deep into the discussions surrounding the privatisation of water and the impacts that this has on women and men, respectively. I would hope to understand more about those experiences, the changing livelihoods and the impacts that these privatisations have, while assessing the alternatives which are available to these African governments. Further research into examples of successful water privatisations, from both economically developed and economically underdeveloped countries, would prove useful in providing a template for successful privatisations across Africa. Unfortunately, what is exceedingly evident from this research is that more of both empirical and theoretical work needs to be done in this field in order to fully understand the relationships between privatising utilities in Africa, the impact that has on development, and the gendered impacts which it has on communities (Bayliss and Fine, 2008). What can be certain is that individuals, non-govermnetal organisations, national and multilateral institutions are devoting increasingly more resources to the emancipation of African communities from issues relating to water so there is a quiet optimism for the future and no doubt more interesting empirical research to be done.
What has been of paramount importance to this blog is the indelible focus on advancing capabilities. While this is not newly trodden territory, it has created a lens in which to view and critique the current development initiatives within Africa, privatisations and future development initiatives in a way which allows the subject to be approached with intrigue and vigour. With regard to the current and prospective future for men and women and the advancing of their capabilities, the panacea lies deeply entwined in issues of water provision and access. There is much left to discuss when it comes to the expansive theoretical and empirical arguments around privatisations in the African water industries, but as is evident here and in popular and academic discourses, the sentiment is deeply negative. Reformations and restructuring these governing bodies and corporations may well hold the key to solving a large majority of the issues which both urban and rural parts of Africa face. Further, grounding a portion of this blog in the mentalities of government and the underlying philosophy has created an interesting insight into topics of justice, rights and fairness which definitely holds the key to creating egalitarian communities across the parts of Africa discussed.
If one was able to disregard the impending completion date for these posts, future posts would look to delve deep into the discussions surrounding the privatisation of water and the impacts that this has on women and men, respectively. I would hope to understand more about those experiences, the changing livelihoods and the impacts that these privatisations have, while assessing the alternatives which are available to these African governments. Further research into examples of successful water privatisations, from both economically developed and economically underdeveloped countries, would prove useful in providing a template for successful privatisations across Africa. Unfortunately, what is exceedingly evident from this research is that more of both empirical and theoretical work needs to be done in this field in order to fully understand the relationships between privatising utilities in Africa, the impact that has on development, and the gendered impacts which it has on communities (Bayliss and Fine, 2008). What can be certain is that individuals, non-govermnetal organisations, national and multilateral institutions are devoting increasingly more resources to the emancipation of African communities from issues relating to water so there is a quiet optimism for the future and no doubt more interesting empirical research to be done.