11-18-2026

Water, Power, and Hydrosocial Inequalities in Latin America

How do responses to water scarcity reproduce social inequalities? Drawing on the case of Chile, Jessica Budds examines how water markets, state policies, and individual responses to drought shape access to water, reinforce existing power relations, and undermine collective solutions.

Water, Power, and Hydrosocial Inequalities in Latin America

Prof. Dr. Jessica Budds | University of Bonn

How do water security policies affect social inequalities and access to water?

Chile has experienced severe drought and water scarcity for more than a decade, driven by prolonged dry conditions and intensive water use in agriculture, mining, and forestry.

Drawing on the concept of the hydrosocial cycle, Jessica Budds examines how water and society mutually shape one another. Focusing on the La Ligua river basin in Chile, she explores how state-led water supply measures and individualized responses to drought can reinforce existing power relations and hinder collective approaches to water scarcity.

The lecture critically examines how responses to water insecurity can ultimately sustain the very water governance model that contributes to unequal access to water.

Event details

Date: Wednesday, 18 November 2026
Time: 18:00–20:00
Venue: DP8-102, KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
Format: Hybrid (in person and via Zoom)
Language: English

Join via Zoom

https://kuei.zoom-x.de/j/67220775687?pwd=nINr8gGThvNdMc1UpLnP1jQ2Tb9LxU.1

Meeting ID: 672 2077 5687
Passcode: WLS26-27

Part of the ZILAS Winter Lecture Series 2026/27, Environmental Justice in Latin America.