Contested knowledges

Work within this theme focuses on how knowledge interrelates with power and politics to shape water governance, control and use.
We study how different ways of knowing and representing water are produced and in turn produce, reproduce and/or challenge class, gender, ethnic and political inequalities.
Research projects include the critical examination of modernist water efficiency and productivity paradigms, valuation schemes, the use of models, technological and institutional innovations for small-holder farmers, local water and territorial notions, cultural water values, multiple ontologies of water and alternative ways of knowing nature and rivers. The focus lies on understanding how different ways of knowing and relating to water translates to different ways of governing water.
Contact us
Research themes
Agricultural water management
Agricultural Water Management encompasses the research field of water resources use efficiency and productivity of agricultural systems from plot, scheme, system to landscape level.
Water governance
We study how different societies organise the extraction, provision, financing, use and disposal of water for different uses and users, as well as the protection of water sources.
Contested knowledges
Contested Knowledges focuses on how knowledge interrelates with power and politics to shape water governance, control and use.