Understanding human-water relationships for sustainable water futures

Project description

Water is essential to sustainable development and for human and environmental flourishing. In many places, water sources are threatened by scant regulation of industrial use and extraction of water, inadequate scientific knowledge (especially of groundwater), and other problems with infrastructure and ecological management. Emergent research in the social sciences and environmental humanities indicates how water everywhere is intensely embedded in the political domain, consistently the subject of political economic manipulation, and implicated in relations of power. Social scientific studies of what has become known as the ‘hydrosocial’ – the inextricable relationship of social and political systems with water resources – demonstrate that we must understand the complex and changing human relationships with water in greater depth if water sources and flows are to be secure and sustainable into the future.

This project will apply the social scientific approach of political ecology to investigate the dynamics of the ‘hydrosocial’ in one (in-depth) or two comparative sites in India and/or Australia. This research project challenges a doctoral researcher to expand existing knowledge of the case specific and comparative human relationships with water and how these intersect with the economic, ecological and political drivers of water use and access. We are interested in supervising projects that investigate the key role the modern state has played in defining rights over water resources, especially for development projects, and that consider the ways in which such rights have intersectional implications (race, gender, tribe, caste, class, indigeneity). The project seeks to contribute conceptual knowledge into ‘the hydrosocial’ as well as practical contributions to reducing social and environmental inequalities associated with water sustainability. Thematic areas of potential interest include gender and water; the political ecology of urban infrastructure; caste, drinking water, and sanitation; ‘cultural flows’ of water and indigenous environmental management; hydropower and riverscapes; groundwater and water pollution.

Outcomes

• The project will deliver practical knowledge on the complexities of ‘hydrosocial’ relationships and their dynamics that threaten the sustainability of water resources as well as reproduce water inequalities. Practical knowledge will be delivered in policy briefs.
• The project will deliver conceptual knowledge in the social scientific understanding of hydrosocial relations.
• The project will establish academic relationships between social science researchers at UQ and IITD in the area of social scientific research into water, providing a platform for future cross institutional collaboration.

Essential capabilities

Good Masters/postgraduate qualifications in Social Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Development Studies, Political Science, Social Work, and Environmental Studies. Ability to undertake independent research and collect social scientific data and analyze material strong communication skills.

Desireable capabilities

One year of work experience in development sector/teaching/journalism is desirable; good communication skills in the English Language with computer literacy; requisite language competency for undertaking fieldwork (fieldwork related) social science/ethnographic fieldwork experience or training.

Expected qualifications (Course/Degrees etc.)

Undergraduate degrees in Social Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Development Studies, Political Science, Social Work, and Environmental Studies. First Class in English medium instruction. Postgraduate degree in Social Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Development Studies, Political Science, Social Work, and Environmental Studies. First Class in English medium of instruction. in India – you should have cleared UGC Net exam.

Additional information for applicants

note: i-students must have own scholarship to apply (CSIR, UCG-NET, etc)

Candidate Discipline

Social anthropology, development studies, political science, human geography, political science, social work, or environmental studies.