A new book review and essay by IWSN Director Chad Staddon has been published by Water International.
The review of Water supply in a mega-city: a political ecology analysis of Shanghai by Michael Webber, Jon Barnett, Brian Finlayson and Mark Wang (UK, Edward Elgar, 2018) highlights the “ambition of the book’s authors to reveal a Chinese hydrosocial system that is ontologically reconnected with cultural, social and perhaps even mythological registers. Combining detailed hydrological science with recent innovations from what they call “critical geography” the authors seek to portray Chinese water management in general, and Shanghai’s drinking water system in particular, as a socio-natural phenomenon that can only be approached through: “…understanding the modes and qualities of water supply in a city really means understanding how that city came into being and now operates””.
However, Staddon says: “the chapters offer a kaleidoscopic treatment of water challenges operating at different spatial scales. The effect is somewhat dizzying. Whilst the ambition of the volume is clear and fascinating there are, perhaps inevitably, some difficulties with development of the thesis.”
The review can be read here.