1. Introduction; The focus on collective action; Putting power and politics at the centre of water governance analysis; Objectives; Structure; References; 2. Power and politics in water governance: Revisiting the role of collective action in the commons; Introduction; Critical institutionalism and institutional bricolage; Power and politics in water governance; Linking spaces for engagement with the pursuit of justice; Notes; References. 3. Collective action and political dynamics: Nile cooperation and Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance DamIntroduction: the wider challenge of collective action; The Nile: background of diversity; Applying the Ostrom principles; The Nile: turbulent waters and the nature of the 'collective'; New rules, new political impasse; The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: game-changer and new power-play; Conclusions; Notes; References; 4. Grassroots scalar politics in the Peruvian Andes: Mobilizing allies to defend community waters in the Upper Pampas watershed; Introduction. Where waters are at stake: divergent claims in the Upper PampasContentious collective action for the defence of water and wetlands; Transnational actors and the Latin American Water Tribunal; Water laws and watershed boundaries; Sustainability of a dialogue platform; Discussions and conclusion; Notes; References; 5. Hydro-hegemony or water security community? Collective action, cooperation and conflict in the SADC transboundary security complex; Introduction; The River Senqu case; Regime formation and regional cohesion; References. 6. Place attachment and community resistance: Evidence from the Cheay Areng and Lower Sesan 2 dams in CambodiaIntroduction; River basins as competing hydro-social scales; Place attachment and hydropower dams; The Cheay Areng dam; The Lower Sesan 2 dam; Conclusion; Notes; References; 7. Politics of knowledge and collective action in health impact assessment in Thailand: The experience of the Khao Hinsorn community; Introduction; The rise of HIA in Thailand; The politics of knowledge in HIA in the Khao Hinsorn community; Conclusion: politics of knowledge and collective action in HIA; Note.

Collective Action is now recognized as central to addressing the water governance challenge of delivering sustainable development and global environmental benefits. This book examines concepts and practices of collective action that have emerged in recent decades globally. Building on a Foucauldian conception of power, it provides an overview of collective action challenges involved in the sustainable management and development of global freshwater resources through case studies from Africa, South and Southeast Asia and Latin America.?The case studies link community-based management of water resources with national decision-making landscapes, transboundary water governance, and global policy discussion on sustainable development, justice and water security. Power and politics are placed at the centre of collective action and water governance discourse, while addressing three core questions: how is collective action shaped by existing power structures and relationships at different scales? What are the kinds of tools and approaches that various actors can take and adopt towards more deliberative processes for collective action? And what are the anticipated outcomes for development processes, the environment and the global resource base of achieving collective action across scales?"--Provided by publisher.