Decolonizing hegemonic approaches of water: exploring Latin American proposals for communality and community entanglements

Abstract

Abstract The current civilizational crisis raises challenges on the care of the commons, among them water occupies a crucial place. In this context it is essential to rethink water, from other epistemic and ontological approaches, that resist the determinism of neoliberal capitalism, the monoculture of modern eurocentric science and the anthropocentric-patriarchal domination of nature. Departing from Latin American political ecology, in first place, we carry out a critical review of hegemonic approaches to water. Then, we present two decolonial proposals for relating with the commons, in particular with water: communality, and community entanglements. Finally, the scope of these proposals is discussed as alternatives to the civilizational crisis, and their contribution to the understanding of water, from a decolonial, relational and ecological perspective.