Water and Freedom: The Privatization of Water and its Implications for Democracy and Human Rights in the Developing World

摘要

In this note, the author discusses the impact of water privatization struggles on democracy in the developing world. Using the violent struggle in Cochabamba, Bolivia, as a case study, this paper examines the ways in which water privatization contracts are handled, often without any input from those most directly affected. As international financial institutions pressure developing countries to privatize municipal water systems, states are finding themselves caught between contractual obligations to transnational water corporations and irate citizens. While the international legal system provides avenues of redress to the corporations, courts and tribunals are not open to the petitions of affected citizens. The author looks to international human rights law as a possible means of ensuring that the people's interest in their water is adequately protected.