Cooperation instead of Conflict - A minor field study of Lake Victoria

Abstract: Conflict over declining water resources has been a highly debated issue the last decade. Theorists suggests that environmental degradation may in some cases cause violent conflict or war. A different school of thought proposes the opposite – that water is more likely to create cooperation, rather than conflict. This thesis will focus on Lake Victoria and why there is cooperation over the lake between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, instead of conflict. A theory on environmental cooperation by Ken Conca will be used, specifically looking at whether or not a transnational network has arisen as a part of the cooperation over water and in what way these networks have contributed to the creation of an imagined security community. The material for the thesis was collected during a minor field study in East Africa during May-July 2010. The findings suggests that a transnational network exists, but that it does not yet reach out to enough people to have been able to create an imagined security community. This does not rule out any other community-feeling around the lake, just that it has not originated from the environmental cooperation. Instead other ethnical, historical and political factors have contributed to the nonviolent relations around the lake.