Relating to the river: New bio-cultural diversities in human engagements with water

Abstract

This article considers the potential for creating new constellations of human-non-human relations in river catchment areas. It makes use of the author’s ethnographic research in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, and engages with current debates about human and non-human rights in relation to water. Drawing on concepts of pan-species democracy, it explores how the rights and interests of diverse human groups, and non-human species, might be encompassed and approached more equitably in the decision-making processes that shape societies’ engagements with water. It suggests that, with a stronger focus on equality and diversity, we can move towards more sustainable practices in interhuman and interspecies relations and address the major challenges of the current environmental crisis.