The echo chamber in water research (social sciences)

One of the benefits that I’ve gained from engaging with the social media community at large (I can no longer say I only engage with social media in Vancouver, as I have Twitter followers from all over the world) is that the terminology from one field (and the ideas) cross-pollinate other fields. That is the case with my research on water. The concept of echo chamber that has been coined in mainstream media and new media is very much applicable to social science research on water.

I can’t tell you how often I have read the same discussions over, and over, and over again. Water is scarce, we should learn how to manage the common pool resource, we need to design more robust institutions for water management, integrated watershed management is the way to go, etc. All of these are phrases that have become commonplace in the literature on water governance. I have gotten to a point where I feel as though there is an echo chamber in the social science literature on water research. I want the discussion to move forward!

Sadly, one of my areas of specialization (wastewater governance and policy) has been paid very little attention by social scientists. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy that I have carved some sort of a niche in this field (I do know some other researchers do study the topic to some extent, but this is a recent phenomenon). But it would be so much nicer if we advanced the water research agenda much further than it is right now. I have written about the topic both in the academic literature and here on my blog, and I have insisted and encouraged people to think about the hydrological cycle in a holistic way. If we stop having this “culture of flushing” that allows us to forget about the water we just polluted as soon as we see it flush away, if we begin to think forward with new analytical tools, then we can move the conversation forward too!

Yes, I am frustrated. I am particularly frustrated because despite the fact that 2008 was the International Year of Sanitation, very little progress has been made. I would hope that in the near future, we learn more about how to advance the water research agenda. And yes, the phrase I wrote before still applies – before we learn how to govern water we need to learn how to govern ourselves.

Related posts:

1. World Water Day and “The Global Water Crisis” event by WaterDrop
2. Virtual water: Should drinking coffee make you feel guilty?
3. My year in review – Water governance and policy research
4. Water footprint: A new tool to examine water scarcity and use
5. Governing water, governing ourselves