Commercialising Water - Conflict & the Privatisation of the Water Sector

Abstract: The global water crisis demands a new way of assessing water management, especially because of its role in previous as well as ongoing conflicts. In the last three decades, we have witnessed a wave of water management privatisation. The effects of this widespread privatisation have been varied and some are still unknown. This thesis aims to understand what elements of water management privatisation explain conflict. By developing a two-step theoretical framework and research design (with critical connotations), where qualitative and quantitative methods are combined to establish a more comprehensive comparative framework and analysis, this study fill several research gaps on the relation between privatisation of water and conflict in the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Israel and Yemen. The findings presented in the first step of the analysis conclude that each case illustrates a specific combination of different elements of privatisation of water management explaining the rise of political conflict. Though, with the implementation of a second step and a contextual perspective, the critical role of contextual factors is presented, in particular the importance of “unequal access” which is concluded to be an important factor in all cases displaying political conflict.