Scott M. Moore
The prospect of international conflict over water has long been the subject of academic and popular concern, but sub-national political conflict is considerably more common, and almost certainly imposes greater economic and environmental costs. Indeed, sub-national hydropolitics are an important
feature of several large countries, including the United States, India, and China. Moreover, disputes between water users in shared river basins have often persisted despite repeated attempts by central governments to resolve them through both persuasion and coercion. Yet despite the growing threat
of water scarcity around the world, little research exists on sub-national politics of shared water resources. This book attempts to fill the gap by explaining how and why hydropolitics play out within countries, as well as between them.
Subnational Hydropolitics re-examines the issue of
water conflict by examining conflicts at the sub-national rather than international level. By examining several in-depth case studies of both conflict and cooperation, author Scott Moore argues that increasing sub-national water conflict is driven by two inter-linked forces, identity politics, which
gives sub-national politicians a reason to compete over shared water resources; and political decentralization, which provides them with the tools to do so. To understand politics at the sub-national level, the book blends insights from both the environmental governance and comparative politics
literatures. By examining the challenges many countries face in achieving cooperation over shared water resources, the book helps to shed light on different mechanisms and processes for solving cooperation problems at the regional scale-lessons relevant to tackling a wide range of transboundary
environmental problems, including air pollution, urbanization, and ecosystem protection. But at its core, this book promises a definitive contribution to the growing sub-field of environmental politics, centered on understanding how different countries attempt to solve the problems inherent in
governing water resources in shared river basins.
Preface
Glossary
Introduction: Sub-National Hydropolitics
1. Deconstructing the State: Sub-National Conflict and Cooperation over Water
2. Constrained Collective Action: Decentralization, Autonomy, and Institutionalized Cooperation in Shared River Basins
3. Dynamics of
Hydropolitics: Sustaining Conflict and Catalyzing Cooperation over Water
4. Institutional Diversity and Inter-State Hydropolitics in the United States of America
5. thno-Linguistic Cleavages and Inter-State River Disputes in the Union of India
6. Central Control, Localized Interests,
and Inter-Provincial Conflict in the People's Republic of China
7. Elites, Civil Society, and Inclusive Institution-Building in the Republic of France
Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
Glossary
Bibliography
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Scott Moore is a scholar and policymaker focused on environmental issues, especially water resources, climate change, and oceans. His research and commentary on these issues has appeared in Nature, Foreign Affairs, and The New York Times. His work experience includes the U.S. State Department,
where he led U.S. - China cooperation on climate change and ocean conservation, and the World Bank, where he led water sector institutional reform and financing projects as a Young Professional. He holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton, and a master's and doctoral degrees from Oxford
University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
