The Role of Water in History and Development

The International Water History Association (IWHA)
2nd conference, 10th -12th August 2001
University of Bergen, Norway
Abstracts 1st December 2000

The International Water History Association (IWHA) 2nd conference will bring together researchers from different disciplines who all study the character and role of freshwater in history and development. It is organised in co-operation with UNESCO's International Hydrological Programme.

While freshwater is a true universal and no human being and no society can exist without it, its natural characteristics vary extremely from place to place and from time to time. Societies have managed and harnessed water in various ways with various implications both for water resources and for society. This conference will explore these variations in man/water relations in time and space, and examine why some societies have apparently succeeded, while others have failed to secure a sound management system of their fresh water.

The conference will have three main aims:

1. to present different empirical research findings and to create aforum for theoretical discussions on how the relationship between man and water can be analysed and understood in the most fruitful ways.
2. to produce relevant input into present day debates about issues including the control and ownership of water, water conflicts and water pollution.
3. to discuss content and profile of a multi-volume World Water History planned by UNESCO in cooperation with IWHA. The conference will offer opportunities for researchers to present perspectives on water history useful for the book series.

• The political economy of water – ownership and control. This session will deal with the changing histories of water as a private or common good. In what way has water been seen as a commodity standing outside "normal" economic theories? It will also be open to papers examining how regional and national control of water resources have been embedded into patterns of economic and political control within and across national boundaries, and has stirred up territorial disputes.
• Images of water (in religion, myths, literature and art). This session will deal with different aspects of the cultural construction of water – from ancient days until contemporary time. We are calling for papers on for example the role of water in the world religions, myths of rivers as a source of life, and water as an object of art. Other themes could be the free flowing river as a state of equilibrium or as a chaotic and violent nature meant to be controlled by man.
• History of hydrology and water control. This session will especially deal with the development of hydrological sciences and water controlling technology. We are not only interested in dam building and water regulation technology. We are also inviting papers on changes in and effects from irrigation and drainage technology etc. The session will encourage comparative perspectives on irrigation and drainage systems, both regarding technology, institutions and policy.
• Narratives on the river and the dam. This session will discuss the harnessed river in a social construction perspective. What stories do we tell about free flowing, or harnessed rivers? Should this history be written as a history of progress or as a history of failure? The narratives have varied from a river lost to the rebirth of a new river or the remaking of a new nature. The narratives have also been written in a perspective of distribution of power (The Conquered River) or in ecological perspective (The Devastated River). How will the stories that we tell about man and the river influence the way we interpret rivers in the 21st century?
• The engineering of water systems – engineers, entrepreneurs and bureaucrats. This session will examine the cultures, traditions and power of those designing and constructing water systems. It will, for example, look at engineers with reference to their aesthetic and technical influences, and their relationship to political power structures. It will also, for example, examine the entrepreneurial capabilities and goals of individuals, from private sector firms, or government departments, who conceived or guided the construction of water systems.
• "Water and man" relations in science. This session will deal with how the relationship man/water has been understood and explained through the centuries and by contemporary scientists in all kinds of disciplines and traditions.
• History of water, sanitation and health. In this session studies of water and health will be presented by a broad focus on water borne diseases and their vectors. We also call for papers that deal with the relationship between epidemics and water and how societies have worked to secure clean water to stem epidemics. This session will also deal with changes in water quality, and how these changes can be seen related to social developments. We also call for papers discussing the understandings – both contemporary and historical – of the concept of clean/polluted water.
• Water, poverty and social development. This session will deal with development of the modern megalopolis and the water and sewage question and how clean water can be made available for the poor. Important changes are taken place in the distribution and control of water for household consumption. In some big cities the water issue has caused political turmoil, even street-fighting. How does the privatisation wave in water distribution affect social relations, political systems and the water supply system? How does lack of water and poor distribution systems affect development and development in rural areas of the so-called "Third World"?
• Freshwater and the coastal zone – integrated and ecological management. The main focus will be put on conflicts between user-interests,especially interrelated problems of freshwater, estuarine and marine areas. Both examples of how conflicts have been coped with historically, and more recently evolved problems and opportunities will be addressed. We also call for papers discussing principles for management of freshwater resources, estuarine and marine areas, as in the integrated and ecological approach in the new EU Water Resources Directive. Finally, attention will also be paid to the development of environmental goals and planning tools of interrelated fresh water, estuarine and marine areas.
• Regional waters in a historical perspective. The conference will organise parallel sessions on water issues in a regional perspective (Asia, Middle East and Africa, Europe, America). Regional characteristics and different experiences and possibilities of human exploitation of water resources will be highlighted. The aim is to stimulate regional research collaboration and improve transfer of knowledge on man–water relations.
• Water and Civilization. Why History is Vital to Reframing Current Water Policy Debates. The point with this session would be to reflect on how and why history is important to current water policy debates. The panel will include water policy practitioners with expertise in history of water and historians, and be led by the editor in chief of Water Policy, Jerome Delli Priscoli.

  Invited key-note speakers:
  Professor Fekri Hassan, University College London, UK
  Professor Christian Pfister, Bern University, Switzerland
  Professor em. John Opie, USA
  Professor Donald Worster, University of Kansas, USA
  General Secretary Andras Szollosi-Nagy, IHP, UNESCO
  

  Conference Papers
  Abstract (250 words) sent to contact person by 1. December 2000 (see below). The conference papers will be edited by an international editorial committee and subsequently published. In connection with the conference we will organise a book exhibition on water related research. We will invite participants to send the organising committee leaflets about reports and books published on the conference topic. Posters are welcome.

  IWHA
  The first formal meeting of the International Water History Association will take place at the Bergen conference. The meeting will include election of officials, discussion on further conference plans etc. Membership of IWHA will be possible to sign at the Bergen conference. More information about IWHA on our web page www.iwha.net.

  Travel support
  It is envisaged that travel support will be available for selected speakers. It is the intention of the organisers to target this support towards speakers from universities and institutions which do not normally provide sufficient resources to fund extensive foreign travel.

  Conference location
  Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, and the capital of the Scandinavian rain coast. It is also a commercial centre which was historically one of the Hanseatic ports with strong maritime trading links to all parts of the world. Seven mountains surround it and the city is renowned for its beauty. Bergen is also noted for being the birthplace of Edvard Grieg whose music reflects the natural environment; mountains, fjords, but also running water everywhere. The location of the conference hall, Bergen Kongress Senter, is downtown Bergen.

  Summer holiday on the western coast of Norway?
  The conference organisers have managed to negotiate with local hotels a good deal for accompanying persons. Bergen and the Norwegian West Coast with its mountains, ocean and fjords will be an experience. (Have a look at these pages:www.bergen-guide.com/ and home.no.net/rostrand/)

  Conference Organising Committee on behalf of IWHA:

  Professor Terje Tvedt, University of Bergen
  Professor Petter Larsson, University of Bergen
  Dr. Eva Jakobsson, Rogaland Research , Stavanger
  

  Time schedule:
  Abstracts: 1. December 2000
  Conference programme: January 2001
  Papers: 1. July 2001
  Conference: 10.-12. August 2001