Other Publications

Shields and Swords: Legal Tools for Public Water

Author:

Jackie Dugard and Katherine Drage

Year:

2012

Publisher:

MSP Occasional Papers No. 17

Number of pages:

Available languages:

Available Formats:

PDF (EN)

Abstract

Water activists have an encouraging record of using legal tools to overturn privatization in the fight for public services. Shields and Swords examines and draws lessons from water campaigns’ legal strategies around the world, some of which have transformed national laws and banned private provision, while others were partial victories.

The paper looks at six cases of citizen-backed referenda and litigation, offering a comparative and global perspective:

Uruguay (2004)
Colombia (2010)
Berlin, Germany (2011)
Italy (2011)
Grenoble, France (2000)
Indonesia (2005)

In all cases, the staying power of water rights networks has been most critical to campaign success.