Inequalities and conflict: Water in Latin American cities

Abstract

Water reflects inequality and segregation in Latin American cities, with access to drinking water varying in terms of quantity and quality according to social status. Many reforms have been introduced to reduce the number of people with no access to drinking water and sanitation systems, but the results vary widely from one country to another and have generated disciplinary and institutional controversies. Water management not only depends on the technical, financial, and political choices of managers, but also, and more fundamentally, on global social choices made by a variety of actors linked to each other by power relations. This literature review, through a social geography lens, shows how the equitable distribution of water among all members of society is at the heart of the water issue.