Dissertation Research: The Effects of Water Scarcity on Reciprocity and Sociability in Bolivia

有关淡水储备状况的报告警告说，当地严重的水资源短缺迫在眉睫，并预测世界各地的缺水地区将出现暴力冲突。缺水已被证明会导致文明冲突，特别是在伴随着高人口密度、贫困和收入不平等的情况下。城市移民社区的种族、宗教和阶级差异可能加剧紧张局势，全社区适应环境稀缺的模式不健全，可能特别容易受到水冲突的影响。为了更好地了解缺水地区冲突是如何发展的，一名文化人类学博士生将在玻利维亚科恰班巴的一个村庄以色列别墅对60户家庭进行抽样，在那里，围绕水的冲突已经成为生活的一部分。每年冬天，季节性缺水威胁着以色列维拉人民的生活，迫使他们在如何使用经济和社会资源方面做出选择。利用正式和非正式访谈、参与者观察和档案研究相结合的方法，学生将确定合作的经济和社会关系是否以及如何在旱季破裂，从而促进冲突的出现。更广泛的影响：除了对博士生和玻利维亚本科生的教育做出贡献外，这项研究还对那些寻求预测和管理即将到来的稀缺淡水冲突的人具有实际应用价值。通过确定在严重缺水时期何时以及如何摆脱社会关系，这项研究将为政策制定者和发展规划者指明在边缘城市社区预防冲突的可能途径。

Reports on the state of freshwater reserves warn that severe local shortagesare imminent, and predict that violent conflicts will emerge in water-scarceregions around the world. Water scarcity has been shown to cause civilconflict, particularly when accompanied by high population density, poverty,and income inequality. Urban migrant communities, where ethnic, religious,and class differences can exacerbate tensions, and community-wide patternsof adaptation to environmental scarcities are not well-formed, may beparticularly vulnerable to water conflicts. To better understand howconflicts develop in water-scarce regions, a PhD student of culturalanthropology will sample 60 households in Villa Israel, a barrio ofCochabamba, Bolivia, where conflict over water is an established part oflife. Every winter, seasonal water shortages threaten the lives of thepeople of Villa Israel, forcing them to make choices in how they use theireconomic and social resources. Using a combination of formal and informalinterviews, participant observation, and archival research, the student willdetermine if and how cooperative economic and social ties break down duringthe dry season, facilitating the emergence of conflicts. Broader implications: In addition to contributing to the education of adoctoral student and a Bolivian undergraduate, the study has practicalapplications for those seeking to anticipate and manage coming conflictsover scarce freshwater. By determining when and how social ties becomevulnerable during periods of severe water scarcity, the research will pointpolicymakers and development planners to possible avenues for conflictprevention in marginal urban communities.