Power-sharing in the English lowlands? The political economy of farmer participation and cooperation in water governance

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dc.contributor.authorWhaley, Luke
dc.contributor.authorWeatherhead, E. Keith
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-17T16:47:12Z
dc.date.available2015-12-17T16:47:12Z
dc.date.issued2015-02-01
dc.description.abstractParticipatory and cooperative forms of water governance have become regular features of government discourse and stated policy objectives in England. We consider this aspiration from the perspective of farmers in the English lowlands, by analysing the current power dynamic that exists among these farmers, and between them and the key stakeholders involved in water management. To do this we undertake a political economy analysis that places lowland farming and water governance within the evolution of historical processes that, over time, have influenced the ability of farmers to participate in the governance of their water environment. These historical developments are interpreted through the lens of the Power Cube, an analytical tool for thinking about the interplay between different forms of power operating in different types of spaces and at different levels of governance. Our findings reveal that, despite there being a number of structural changes that provide lowland farmers with the opportunity to participate and cooperate in water governance, three distinct barriers stand in the way. These relate to the power 'within' these farmers, which continues to align with a productivist ideology founded on individualism and competition, often at the expense of the environment; the power that government water managers still exercise 'over' farmers instead of 'with' them; and the relationship between lowland farming and environmental interests, where historically the two sides’ power 'to' act has been diametrically opposed. The findings point to the importance of developing suitable programmes designed to support and incentivize farmer participation and cooperation.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationWhaley L. Weatherhead EK. (2014) Power-sharing in the English lowlands? The political economy of farmer participation and cooperation in water governance. Water Alternatives, Volume 8, Issue 1, pp. 820-843en_UK
dc.identifier.issn1965-0175
dc.identifier.urihttp://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/all-abs/267-a8-1-11/file
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/9608
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherWater Alterntives Associationen_UK
dc.rightsCC:BY:NC This article is distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution non-commercial-sharealike license which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
dc.subjectPower Cubeen_UK
dc.subjectparticipation and cooperationen_UK
dc.subjectwater governanceen_UK
dc.subjectfarmingen_UK
dc.subjectlowland Englanden_UK
dc.titlePower-sharing in the English lowlands? The political economy of farmer participation and cooperation in water governanceen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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