Water as a hybrid: an analytical structure based on a hydrosocial approach

Abstract

The reductionism promoted by modernity enabled a common sense as to what water was to be molded in the discrete form of H₂O. Questioning that unique conception reproduced in studies of water resources and their governance, to the detriment of their multiple ontologies, was the starting point of this article. An analytical structure is proposed based on the reflections made by Political Ecology and the concept of the hydrosocial cycle. Unlike the naturalization of the hydrological cycle, it contemplates the multiple socionatural relations that constitute water. The aim of the proposed structure is to enable the apprehension of the hydrosocial cycle in time and space, in other words, its application in case studies. The reflection on a hybrid nature of water, duly considering the interactions between human and non-human agencies, provokes a critical look at modern reductionism on water, paying attention to the need to include other practices and epistemes, thereby contemplating a plural perspective on the issue.