Democratizing discourses: conceptions of ownership, autonomy and 'the state' in Nicaragua's rural water governance

摘要

The interconnected discourses of ownership, autonomy, and state roles and responsibilities in the water sector are a strategic feature of the mobilization of water committees in Nicaragua. In particular, this paper argues that the effectiveness of these discourses in supporting water committees' goals of political inclusion and legal recognition owes to how they reflect the day-to-day, historical and contemporary experience of water management at the grassroots, including how this work implicates the state. Ultimately, this case demonstrates how discourses from below' can have a democratizing effect on water governance by helping to carve out space for marginalized actors' policy interventions.