Exploring power dynamics in the water sector in Chile: a focus on avocado plantations and water resources in three municipalities

Abstract: This thesis researches the power dynamics related to the intrinsic relationship between the expansion of avocado plantations and its effects on the water system in Chile's municipalities of Quillota, La Cruz, and La Calera. The study adopts a mixed methodology. Stakeholders involved in the water framework were interviewed through online interviews. To support and backup the interviews’ findings, a Supervised Classification through the QGIS program was performed to analyse spatial patterns of the avocado plantations in the study area. Concepts related to power and power sustained by the political ecology theory form the theoretical framework that supported the analysis. In particular, the notions of water governance and water scarcity; on the other side, Antonio Gramsci’s concepts of power, hegemony, and ideology were adopted. The case study identified the neoliberal ideology, which manifests in the conflict between power and subaltern groups in the access and distribution of water resources. The nexus between avocado trees and hydrological supplies produces a discriminating socio-economic system that protects and safeguards powerful social actors at the expense of vulnerable categories and “neoliberalising” the local environment. Moreover, a potential counter-hegemony linked to public participation in the water framework was recognized, opening up for future research.