Paper short abstract:

Women perform the majority of domestic water duties. The decisions they make about their water consumption patterns are closely related to their gendered identity as mothers. In Delhi’s water-poor neighborhoods, the use of water becomes imbued with narratives of justice for future generations.

Paper long abstract:

As issues of climate change, rapid urban development, globalization, and environmental devastation threaten the viability and vitality of increasingly larger populations, the social structures that presently marginalize people will only further threaten the lifestyles and lives of vulnerable populations. This paper explores the disparity of water access in Delhi, India through the perspective of the marginalized urban water poor who struggle to meet their daily water needs, and those of their children. Many urban residents have been exposed to and trained in the aesthetics of the world-class city and experience tension over meeting high standards of cleanliness, purity, and order with limited resources. Women are major stakeholders in domestic water debates since they perform the majority of collection, allocation, and disposal duties. The decisions these stakeholders make about their water consumption patterns are closely related to their gendered identity as mothers. In Delhi's water poor neighborhoods, the use of water becomes imbued with narratives of justice for future generations. For mothers living on the margins of hydrosocial justice, how do they envision their own future and that of their children? What role does water use play in this depiction? How do they imagine the future vitality of their basti settlements or that of Delhi, or India at large, while exposed to water allocation disparities every day? For the millions that live in Delhi's underserved water communities, tracing the flows of water means tracing the disparities of justice and imagined urban contributions that ultimately either permit or condemn lives in Delhi.