The Global Politics of Bottled Water

My talk at the 2016 International Studies Association.

Transcript

1. The Global Politics of Bottled Water: Towards an Integrative Research Agenda DR. RAUL PACHECO-VEGA CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIÓN Y DOCENCIA ECONÓMICAS (CIDE) INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ASSOCIATION (ISA) 2016 ATLANTA, GEORGIA, USA. MARCH 16TH, 2016
4. Bottled water: A global environmental governance paradox  Water should be a global human right (UN Resolution 64/292, July 28, 2010)  Yet, bottled water has grown to become one of the most profitable industries globally.  Commodifying the human right to water (Pacheco- Vega 2015)
5. Research Question  How can we analyze bottled water within the context of a global environmental dynamics? and  What analytical purchase do these approaches give us?  global environmental politics  comparative politics  international relations
6. Two interrelated bodies of literature Comparative Politics  National patterns of bottled water sociopolitical dynamics  Consumption  Trading (domestic markets)  Bottled water vs. soft drinks  Comparisons of domestic regulations towards bottled water  Extraction  Distribution  Marketing International relations  Geopolitics  Bottled water as a source of international/transnational conflict  International political economy  Global markets where packaged water trading occurs  Norm diffusion (or NON-diffusion)  Human right to water as a norm – is it conflicting with BW global acceptance?
7. Transnationalism and bottled water  Role of states in governing bottled water (IR)  Role of non-state actors in the global governance of bottled water  Two interrelated projects:  Comparing environmental activism (comparative politics)  against bottled water  pro-tap water  Transnational environmental coalition building or transnational activism (IR)  Towards promoting HRW (HRW as an international norm that can be then pushed forward by environmental NGOs)
8. HRW as a frame of meaning against privatization of water supply vs acceptance of bottled water (norm diffusion)
9. HRW and BW from a domestic- international perspective  Whereas previous conceptualizations of HRW focused on it as STRATEGY, I side with Mirosa and Harris (2012) in that we need to reconsider HRW as a framework for GOAL ATTAINMENT.  Implementing the HRW will necessitate a focus on two simultaneous strategies: a) Remunicipalization of private water service delivery b) Regulation and control of the global bottled water industry across scales
10. Thank you! Raul Pacheco-Vega, PhD http://www.raulpacheco.org Twitter: @raulpacheco Facebook: DrPachecoVega E-mail: raul.pacheco-vega@cide.edu