Water Under Threat

Presents an exploration of the key social, political, and ethical issues in global water use. This title shows that the ways in which water is used and managed raise central issues about our lifestyle, our ethics, and our relationship to nature and the biosphere. It makes the case for a society that is economical with water. Water has been described as 'the oil of the 21st century' with rapid population growth, climate change and pollution conspiring to make it the resource over which wars may be fought in years to come. But does water have a price? Is it a right or a need? Increasingly, water is viewed as a commodity whose function is to generate profits. In this book, Larbi Bouguerra argues that instead we should view it as a common good of humanity. Water has an exceptional cross-cultural symbolic value and its use raises enormous questions about our lifestyle, our ethics and our relationship to nature. Bouguerra makes a powerful case for a society that is more economical with water and manages it openly and democratically, as a global resource.