Paper short abstract:

This paper seeks to examine the ways in which global water scarcity is instrumentalised as a discursive tool to expand the state’s power to have greater control on water resources in domestic and transboundary settings, particularly in the Middle East.

Paper long abstract:

Water scarcity has long been a central focus of academic and policy studies on the politics of water. While issues related to the availability and use of water have been traditionally associated with the Global South, the Global North also experiences water scarcity today. The expanded geographical range of water scarcity, as well as its increased severity, has led many states to combine supply-side solutions (e.g., dam building) and demand-side mechanisms (e.g., good water governance) to cope with the issue. The same process has also granted them the power to construct a sense of urgency in water policymaking and implement their decisions with less contestation. The key role played by discourses on global water scarcity in shaping the process of water policymaking remains relatively understudied, though. This paper seeks to examine the ways in which global water scarcity is instrumentalised as a discursive tool to expand the state’s power to have greater control on water resources in domestic and transboundary settings. Drawing on critical approaches to development, the paper looks at how political, economic, and environmental interests converge or clash in the discursive terrain of global water scarcity. Particular focus is placed on Turkey, an emerging actor in global water governance, to illustrate the social construction of water scarcity and the implications of this process for water governance on multiple levels and scales. Thus, the paper aims to deconstruct the meaning of global water scarcity and provide an alternative perspective to the politics of water, particularly in the Middle East.