Contribution short abstract

This research examines how desalination reshapes territories, justice, and subjectivities in postcolonial Djerba, a tourism- and heritage-driven island, showing how infrastructural “decoupling” produces new inequalities and forms of governance.

Contribution long abstract

My research examines how water infrastructures reshape territories, justice, and subjectivities in Djerba, Tunisia. In this tourism- and heritage-driven island marked by chronic drinking water scarcity, a state-led desalination plant is promoted as a “decoupling” techno-fix. Set within a postcolonial context, it reflects enduring patterns of uneven development and external dependency.

Building on political ecology and the political geography of infrastructure, the paper foregrounds infrastructures as agentic rather than neutral technical responses to scarcity. It asks: How does desalination redistribute water access, costs, and risks? Whose knowledges and practices are recognised or marginalised? And who gains voice and authority in water decision-making?

Using a qualitative case-study design, the research combines semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, examined through a water justice lens that connects recognition, redistribution, and participation, and is further sharpened by insights from micropolitical ecologies.

By situating Djerba within broader debates on islands as laboratories of infrastructural experimentation in postcolonial contexts, the paper contributes to theorising hydrosocial territories in insular settings and to critical discussions on non-conventional water, privatization, and the enduring asymmetries that shape water governance in North Africa.

Contribution short abstract

This communication aims to contribute to a debate by comparing research on two metropolitan areas, in order to move beyond a specialization on water insecurity in cities in the Global South and to recognize forms of water insecurity in cities in the Global North.

Contribution long abstract

The issue of drinking water infrastructure is not limited to the consumption of beverage. While access to drinking water is obviously vital for human-beings, water is also used for other purposes such as washing oneselves, belongings, and clothes, in addition to sanitation. In this regard, I believe it is relevant to include these elements in the discussion on the challenges of living in a context of water scarcity.

My work is based on two case studies that contribute to our understanding of water scarcity in seemingly very different contexts. I will first discuss the case of Jakarta, a metropolis marked by the colonial legacy of its water supply network and its expansion since 1945. Fieldwork carried out aims to categorize the connected spaces, as well as the types of connections. The purpose here is to show how the connection methods overlap with the inherited colonial hierarchies, which is reinforced by the management methods imposed by the privatization of the water service from 1998 to 2022 (financing methods, stakeholders…). This work is put into perspective with a research conducted in Lyon, a so-called developed city. Here too, access to water is uneven. Based on a study of access to public showers (public or social establishments), the objective is to recognize the modalities of water insecurity: beneficiaries, volunteers, and structures are also part of social relationships marked by colonial legacies between those who help and those who are helped, renewed by the migration system, which reveals the reproduction of colonial relations.

Contribution short abstract

Gendered labour and time in water collection have often been measured through self-reported time estimates. By using GPS and feminist ethnography, I aim to examine how gendered mobilities, labour and time for water are shaped by spatio-temporal dynamics, intersectional identities and social norms.

Contribution long abstract

The daily provision of water for domestic use in rural northern Ghana is gendered. Here, water responsibilities fall on women due to gendered division of labour, structured by social reproduction and entrenched cultural norms. This labour demands significant time, physical effort, and mobility across multiple water collection points, often in distant locations. Yet, existing discourses on water and gender, including global assessments, have, over the years, relied on participant self-reported estimates to measure time spent on water-related activities. Beyond over- and/or underestimation, self-reported estimates overlook how temporal factors (daily, seasonal rhythms), spatial dynamics (water facilities' location across different landscapes), intersectional identities (age, gender, class), and social norms influence who moves, when they move, and how far they are willing to travel for water. Sensor-based mobility tracking, particularly Global Positioning System (GPS), provides another way to capture actual travel paths and waiting time. However, the use of GPS in gender-water research is limited. By combining GPS tracking with feminist ethnographic interviews and observations, this research maps gendered water activity spaces and uncovers real-time and mobility patterns that may otherwise remain overlooked in mainstream gender and water research or be distorted through self-reported estimates. Torsten Hägerstrand's time geography is an important framework to draw on here, while feminist geography situates men and women within power relations that shape gendered labour. The research contributes to broader discussion on gender and water labour, time, and mobility by engaging with African peripheral regions, where postcolonial histories shape everyday access to resources, including water.

Contribution short abstract

The study ventures neighbourhood level water consumption and its resilience to water scarcity in the semi-arid metropolitan city of Jaipur using household survey and in-depth interviews. It concludes that individual resistence to community resistence and community co-production shapes resilience.

Contribution long abstract

The erratic rainfall and over-exploited groundwater intensify the water security challenges in the semiarid metropolis of Jaipur. Thus, this study evaluates household water consumption and explores neighbourhood-specific adaptive strategies in urban, peri-urban, rural, and slum areas of Jaipur, situated in vulnerable aquifers under different socio-economic conditions. Using mixed methods of household surveys and in-depth interviews, it reveals spatial variations in domestic water use and resilience mechanisms.

The primary household survey estimated that per-capita consumption of water for domestic use varies between 110 lpcd in peri-urban areas to 73 lpcd in slum areas which reflects the spatial (in) that drives inequitable water access through formal supply and poor groundwater governance, particularly in slums. The negotiation strategies for securing water for households vary from individual resistance to community mobilisation. However, long-term resilience relies on extending safe, reliable and formal water services, yet current governance often fails to address spatial inequities and govern the groundwater resources.

Neighbourhood co-production emerges as a critical resilience strategy, with communities engaging in water sharing and alternative arrangements to cope with shortages. The water negotiation with the state for the neighbourhood is influenced by tenure and socio-economic status, illustrating that socio-spatial contexts shape adaptive capacities.

The study frames resilience as negotiation between households and the state, mediated by socio-spatial factors reflecting interplay of agency and deeper structural constraints. By integrating spatial justice and neighbourhood co-production, it advocates for adaptive governance that prioritises and supports community-driven resilience to ensure water security in the face of climate change.