A More Formal Introduction

 The word “governance” comes from the Greek word κυβερνἂν (kubernân), meaning “to steer”. Plato used this term to metaphorically refer to the act of steering, or governing men, which later gave words such as “government”. The word “politics” similarly arose from the term πολιτικός (politikós), - “that which concerns citizens, the public and the State” *.

Following the above definitions, I chose to inscribe my topic in the “politics” section, so as to analyse the underlying local politics and power relationships tied to water management and communities, hence at a very small scale. 

Queue to my last blogpost, which was pretty much a written form of my very jumbled up thoughts, I thought I would outline more precisely what exactly I wanted to study and question through the series of blogs I will be posting relative to the topic of water, politics and power in Africa.

More precisely, reading different pieces of work, such as by Tucker et al. (2014) and Villholth, K. (2013) lead me to seek more answers to questions relating to local governance, from community to private management. My personal views on this based on experience and readings from Thompson, J. et al. (2000) for example -who highlight amongst others, the fact that urban water infrastructure hasn’t really evolved since the colonial era -tend to favour a grassroots approach.  However I wish to challenge their efficiency through this blog. The following points will hence be addressed over the course of the next few weeks:

• What does community management mean in terms of the different informal politics and power relationships occurring at a very localised scale (i.e to what extent does community management secure a fair access to water both at the heart of the same community, and between different communities relying on the same body of water?).

• When and where does the state influence come into action to either support / complement or hinder progress occurring at a localised state? Are the interests of communities really favoured by the donors and charity seeking to assist them in their management?

• What of the role of education in terms of power at a localised basis? 

I find particularly interesting to analyse the underlying power dynamics at play at even the most grassroots of scales. 

I look forward to reading your comments and thoughts! 

Kwaheri


*This was taught to me in a Greek literature class at school. However, a similar definition can be found here.