Liberal theory, human rights and water-justice: back to square one?

• Author: D'Souza, Radha

Abstract

In the wake of the Fukuyama's 'end of history': liberal theory's triumph over its soviet/communist other, and the subsequent march of 'globalisation' and the ascendancy of neo-liberal ideology, this article interrogates the theoretical developments on the 'Left', the academic and activist led critiques of liberal triumphalism, by analysing the demands for recognition of water rights as human rights particularly in regard to the Global Justice Movements that arose from disenchantment with globalisation and neo-liberal ideology. In the context of water-justice and human rights, the article investigates the substantial underpinnings of both liberal theory and the languages of the 'Left' tradition in regard to the development of the human right to water to reveal the shared foundations that divorce them both from the geo-historical terrain of emancipatory politics today.

Keywords:

Right of water; Human Rights; Global Justice Movements; Globalisation; Liberal Theory; Leftist ideology;

1. Introduction

   When Francis Fukuyama proclaimed the 'end of history' in 1992 it would be fair to say there was an unequivocal response from academics and activists alike on the 'Left' against what came to be described as 'liberal triumphalism'. Writing in the wake of the end of the Cold War and the incorporation of the Socialist Bloc into capitalist style democracies, Fukuyama argued that there was no ideological alternative to liberal theory and that human society had come to the end of their philosophical evolution (Fukuyama, F. 1992). The critique of 'liberal triumphalism' came from a range of theoretical perspectives on the 'Left' including politicians like Hugo Chavez (Barber, R. B. 1995; Chavez, H. 2006; Derrida, J. 1994; Halliday, F. 1992; McCarney, J. 1993; Miliband, R. 1992). Indeed Fukuyama himself backed off somewhat from his earlier position in the wake of the visible triumph of global inequities and human misery that followed the end of the Cold War (Fukuyama, F. 2002, 2004).

   The end of the ColdWar was followed by the march of 'globalisation' and the ascendancy of neo-liberal ideology within International Organisations (IO) and States that exacerbated already entrenched social polarisation, economic inequality and feeling of disempowerment across wide cross sections of societies. An outcome of the disenchantment with 'globalisation' and neo-liberal ideology was the emergence of what is loosely described as 'Global Justice Movements' (GJM). The GJMs are profoundly influenced by theoretical developments on the 'Left' that seek to combine the critique of the Socialist bloc by the New Left and the New Social Movements of the sixties and seventies in the pre-ColdWar era with the critique of 'globalisation', neo-liberal ideology and the rolling back of the Welfare States in the Western/Capitalist bloc. The GJMs have made 'activism' an acceptable practice and create a buzz from time to time, with dramatic protests, language of struggle and resistance, and challenges to the ethical underpinnings of the policies and practices of States and IOs. Their practices and praxiological concerns, however, appear to be deeply embedded in the very 'liberal triumphalism' that has been denounced by the 'Left' theoretically. This article interrogates the theoretical developments on the 'Left' and the practices of the GJMs by analysing the demands for recognition of water rights as human rights by GJMs. The 'Left' refers to an intellectual tradition that is critical of capitalism in the broadest possible sense and seeks inspiration from the works of Karl Marx to a greater or lesser degree. The article highlights the hiatus in the demands by GJMs for recognising access to water as a human right and the theoretical critique of human rights by the 'Left'.

2. Global Justice Movements and the Human Right to Water

   The first phase of protest movements for water-justice arose in the nineteen eighties and centred around large dams and their effects on marginalised sections of society such as displacement, ecological and environmental destruction, rehabilitation and ethical questions about the beneficiaries of large dams who were invariably the rich farmers, industries, and urban middle classes, in other words, the 'modern' sector. These movements arose from the failure of the development agenda to deliver on promises of poverty alleviation, three UN Development Decades notwithstanding. Although centred on dams, the anti-dam movements of the eighties challenged the development agenda of IOs and States since the end of World War II from class, race, gender, ecology, environment, democratic politics and indigenous people's standpoints. The movement against the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada River in India exemplifies the first phase of social mobilisation against dams (Fisher, W. F. 1995). The International Rivers' Network, an international non-governmental organisation based in the United States that links movements similar to the one against Sardar Sarovar worldwide also emerged around the same period. (i) The first phase of struggles for water-justice occurred before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established and before the full onslaught of 'globalisation' and neo-liberalism in all their manifestations became apparent to many.

   During the first phase, anti-dam movements focused on the World Bank (WB) which had become the largest financier of large dams; and Third World States which ignored the conditions of the poor in the modernisation and industrialisation agenda of nations. Large dams were seen by the movements as a technological question, no doubt a technology with a distinct bias for the 'modern sectors' that impoverished and marginalised people dependent on subsistence economies. The anti-dam movements viewed the solutions to the developmental impact of dams also as a technological solution arguing that by managing water resources on different principles (Paranjape, S. and Joy, K. J. 1995), or bringing back traditional technologies such as tank irrigation (Agarwal, A. and Narain, S. 1997), it will be possible to meet the water needs of the poor and the marginalised sections of society. These technological solutions fitted within the conceptual framework of 'sustainable development' already popularised by the Brundtland Commission report in 1983 and adopted by various UN agencies following international summits such as Agenda 21, although located at the more radical end of the spectrum of 'sustainable development' debates. (ii)

   The second phase of water-movements emerged after the end of the Cold War with the establishment of the WTO, 'globalisation', structural adjustment programmes of International Monetary Fund (IMF), new lending conditions imposed by the WB and WTO agreements like GATS that pushed for privatisation of public water works. The second round of water movements emerged in the context of an emergent GJMs campaigning against the WTO and 'globalisation'. In the second round the focus shifted to privatisation of public water supply, commodification of water, the emergence of corporations that owned and traded in water creating 'water markets', and the impact of user-pay principles on the poor (Barlow, M. and Clarke, T. 2002; Shiva, V. 2000). The struggles against water privatization in Cochabamba in Bolivia exemplify the second phase (Olivera, O. and Lewis, T. 2004). The articulation of the demand for recognition of access to water as a human right emerges prominently during the second phase. During the second phase the emphasis shifted to the legal right to water. The phase saw a proliferation of organisations and groups engaged in struggles on water-justice for ordinary people in the Third World. A number of large global Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) usually based Western capitalist nations emerged as advocates of water-justice for the 'global poor'. (iii) A number of water networks like the Right-to-Water network and the Fresh Water Action Network also emerged. (iv) These networks, listservs, lobbying and advocacy groups and protest organisations mobilized opinion for the recognition of water as a human right. More established development NGOs like Water Aid, a UK based charity working in the water sector since 1981 also added their voice to the demand for human rights to water (Calaguas, B. U. 1999). Influential organizations like Amnesty International supported the demand for recognizing access to water as a human right (Amnesty International 2003). Epistemic communities also wrote in support of human rights to water (Darrow, M. 2003; Gleick, P. H. 1998).

   The demand for human rights to water calls for inscribing a legal right to water within legal frameworks: as constitutional or statutory rights in national law, and an international water treaty or UN convention in international law (Barlow, M. and Clarke 2002; Bar, R. 2004). The NGOs at the World Water Forum held in March 2006 in Mexico articulated the human rights to water by calling on governments to:

   Adopt a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council to strengthen the right to water. Establish an international mechanism to monitor implementation of the right to water, such as a UN Special Rapporteur on the right to water. Bring, as a matter of priority, their national water and sanitation laws and policies in line with the UN General Comment 15 on the Right to Water (Centre on Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE) 2006). By articulating the human rights to water as legal rights, the activists and NGOs in the GJMs invite the 'global poor' to believe that by having legal rights to water recognized within a human rights framework in national and international law, the peoples in the Third World will have access to water for subsistence. This promise is informed theoretically by liberalism and is conceptually problematic.

   The NGOs comprising the GJMs were not the only voices calling for recognition of access to water as a human right within...