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
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)
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
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?
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)
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