hydroreflexivity - e - flux

“Water is Life.” As Standing Rock protestors declared, access to freshwater must be ensured for all and fought for at all costs. With the widescale privatization and belligerent contamination of this vital natural resource, the struggle for water has become more urgent than ever. However, the fight for water is not a new struggle. People have been collectively negotiating their relationship with water for as long as they have lived together. Water has also, at the same time, been a means for people to negotiate how they live together. This is just one of the many ways that water is reflexive. Struggles over water are also incredibly varied, as water is not only life; it is also territory. Every environment, every place is shaped by water: by the way it is situated and used; by how it is protected, managed, and distributed; by the conditions of its accessibility; by its quality, and by its quantity. Water can be both a protector and a threat, and the struggles over water can be both for and against it. https://www.e-flux.com/architecture/hydroreflexivity/