Critical socio-political theory and water: the case of urban political ecology

Abstract

The present paper attempts to present in a critical manner the approach known as urban political ecology with the aim to reveal its deeper presuppositions. It then tries to relate these presuppositions to the political character of urban political ecology. The paper focuses on the case of water, despite the fact that the range of urban political ecology is much broader, as the latter examines wider socio-political issues such as urbanization, the city as a socio-ecological product etc. As far as the presuppositions are concerned, the paper examines the way urban political ecology views the relation between nature and society, referring mainly to the Marxian concept of metabolism. As a second analytical step, the paper attempts to relate these presuppositions to the political programme of urban political ecology.