The Logics of Water Policies in Central Asia: The IWRM Implementation in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

In the framework of 'political geography of water,' this dissertation examines the logics of water policy implementation in the Central Asian region. Reflecting on the relations between political power, water policies, and the hydraulic territories, the book analyzes the Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) implementation - the global water paradigm promoted by development organizations since the 1990s - its logics and rationales, in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan at the basin / local level. Based on detailed, actor-oriented, and comparative field research in two river basins, the main findings highlight how the IWRM implementation was reconfigured by the two states in order to pursue specific socio-political strategies, in contradiction with the paradigm's aims and the narratives of international development. Dissertation. (Series: Geographie - Vol. 23) [Subject: Political Geography, Water Policy, Asian Studies]