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Typically, cities and nature are perceived as geographic opposites, cities being manufactured social creations, and nature being outside of human construction. Through a historical geography of water in the modern city, Kaika shows that this is not the case. Rather, nature and the modern city are fully intertwined, with cities integrating nature at every level of activity. While her empirical focus is on Athens, she discusses other major cities in the West, including London and New York

This article studies the western bourgeois home, and argues that its social construction as a familiar, autonomous, safe, private haven is predicated not only upon the exclusion of undesired social elements (anomie, homelessness, social conflict, etc.) but also upon the exclusion of undesired natural elements (cold, dirt, pollution, sewage, etc.). Using the domestication of water in the western world as a vehicle, the article analyses the historical‐geographical process through which nature became scripted as 'the other' to the bourgeois home, and explains the contribution of this separation to the conceptual construction of the home as a distinct and autonomous 'space envelope', supposedly untouched by socio‐natural processes. This analysis identifies an inherent contradiction: despite the intense efforts at 'othering' and excluding nature from the premises of the home, the function and familiarity of this space is increasingly dependent upon the production of nature. Although the complex set of socio‐natural networks, pipes and cables that carry clean, produced, commodified nature inside and pump bad, metabolized nature outside the bourgeois home remain visually excluded, it is this same excluded socio‐nature that constitutes the material basis upon which the familiarity of the home is constructed. Thus, in a simultaneous act of need and denial, the bourgeois home remains the host of the elements that it tries to exclude. This contradiction surfaces at moments of crisis (such as power cuts, burst mains and water shortage) when familiar objects acquire uncanny properties. At such moments, the continuity of the social and material processes that produce the domestic space is unexpectedly foregrounded, bringing the dweller face to face with his/her alienation, within his/her most familiar environment.Cet article montre comment la construction sociale de la maison bourgeoise occidentale, en tant que refuge privé, sécurisé, autonome et familier, s'appuie sur l'exclusion d'éléments indésirables, tant sociaux (anomie, sans‐abri, lutte sociale, etc.) que naturels (froid, saleté, pollution, effluents, etc.). Comme véhicule, ce travail utilise la domestication de l'eau dans le monde occidental, et analyse le processus historico‐géographique par lequel la nature est devenue 'l'autre' pour la maison bourgeoise, tout en expliquant l'apport de cette séparation dans l'élaboration conceptuelle de la maison comme 'enveloppe spatiale' distincte et autonome, censée être préservée des processus sociaux‐naturels. Ainsi apparaît une contradiction intrinsèque: malgré d'intenses efforts visant à'l'altérité' et l'exclusion de la nature dans le principe, la fonction et la familiarité de la maison dépendent de plus en plus de la production de nature. L'ensemble complexe de réseaux sociaux‐naturels, tuyaux et câbles qui amènent une nature nettoyée, fabriquée, banalisée à l'intérieur et expulsent la nature mauvaise, métabolisée à l'extérieur de la maison bourgeoise, restent éliminés visuellement. Pourtant, c'est cette même socio‐nature exclue qui constitue la base matérielle sur laquelle se construit l'intimité de cet espace. Donc, dans un acte simultané de besoin et rejet, la maison bourgeoise continue d'héberger les éléments qu'elle essaie d'exclure. Cette contradiction émerge lors des crises (coupures de courant, explosion de canalisations et pénuries d'eau, par exemple) quand les objets familiers revêtent des qualités surnaturelles. Alors, la continuité des processus sociaux et matériels qui génèrent l'espace domestique est subitement mise en lumière, l'occupant se trouvant confrontéà son aliénation, au sein de son environnement le plus intime.

This article studies the western bourgeois home, and argues that its social construction as a familiar, autonomous, safe, private haven is predicated not only upon the exclusion of undesired social elements (anomie, homelessness, social conflict, etc.) but also upon the exclusion of undesired natural elements (cold, dirt, pollution, sewage, etc.). Using the domestication of water in the western world as a vehicle, the article analyses the historical-geographical process through which nature became scripted as 'the other' to the bourgeois home, and explains the contribution of this separation to the conceptual construction of the home as a distinct and autonomous 'space envelope', supposedly untouched by socio-natural processes. This analysis identifies an inherent contradiction: despite the intense efforts at 'othering' and excluding nature from the premises of the home, the function and familiarity of this space is increasingly dependent upon the production of nature. Although the complex set of socio-natural networks, pipes and cables that carry clean, produced, commodified nature inside and pump bad, metabolized nature outside the bourgeois home remain visually excluded, it is this same excluded socio-nature that constitutes the material basis upon which the familiarity of the home is constructed. Thus, in a simultaneous act of need and denial, the bourgeois home remains the host of the elements that it tries to exclude. This contradiction surfaces at moments of crisis (such as power cuts, burst mains and water shortage) when familiar objects acquire uncanny properties. At such moments, the continuity of the social and material processes that produce the domestic space is unexpectedly foregrounded, bringing the dweller face to face with his/her alienation, within his/her most familiar environment. © Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2004.

This article examines the intricate process of developing the European Union's Water Framework Directive. It sees the Directive as a response to recent economic, political and social changes related to water management, including the shift from government to governance, the liberalization of water markets and the emergence of a new set of institutions, actors, etc. and their respective relations (i.e. social capital). The article focuses on the key points of disagreement between the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament that threatened to prevent the Directive from being materialized and interprets this controversy as the culmination of conflicting interests between different actors at the local, national and European levels. Finally, it asserts the increasingly important role of the nation state in the decision-making and implementation of the Directive and sets this against recent arguments about the death of the State.

This paper examines the drought that hit Athens between 1989 and 1991 and analyses the role of this natural phenomenon as the "ferment" for ongoing political-economic transformations in the direction of liberalisation and privatisation of water management and allocation in Greece. The paper analyses how the drought was marshalled as an effective discursive vehicle to facilitate and expedite the state-led neoliberal political-economic agenda. It shows how the social consensus around a number of "emergency measures" that the state adopted to deal with a "natural" crisis was grounded in a particular discourse on water and in the political-economic "positioning" of "nature" as a source of crisis. In turn, this change in the "discursive" production of nature fused with the rhetoric and practice of market-led development and privatisation and, ultimately, facilitated important transformations in the social and political-economic (material) production of nature. © 2003 Editorial Board of Antipode.

L'article parteix de la premissa que és de vital importància reconèixer que el principal impulsor dels canvis ambientals ha estat el galopant procés d'urbanització mundial. De fet, la «sostenibilitat» de la vida urbana contemporània -entesa com la reproducció ampliada de la seva forma social i natural i del seu funcionament- és la responsable de l'ús del 80% dels recursos i de la generació de la major part dels residus mundials. Aquest article vol fer palès com aquestes arrels urbanes són habitualment ignorades per gran part de la teoria i la pràctica urbanes, i com els febles intents tecnocràtics per adoptar formes més «sostenibles» de vida urbana en realitat segueixen afavorint l'apocalipsi socioecològica combinada i desigual que marca les dinàmiques contemporànies de la urbanització mundial. Així, no es tracta tant d'analitzar la qüestió de la natura a la ciutat, sinó més aviat d'analitzar la urbanització de la natura (entesa com el procés a través del qual tot tipus de natures són socialment mobilitzades, econòmicament incorporades i físicament metabolitzades/transformades per tal de donar suport al procés d'urbanització). En primer lloc, explicarem com les relacions entre les ciutats i el medi ambient han estat descrites i imaginades al llarg de l'últim segle. En segon lloc, indagarem com la qüestió ambiental va entrar en la teoria i en la pràctica urbana durant el segle XX. Per acabar, esbrinarem com i per què, malgrat l'avenç del nostre coneixement sobre la relació entre el canvi ambiental i la urbanització i un consens focalitzat en la necessitat d'un desenvolupament urbà «sostenible», la incògnita del medi ambient i els problemes generalitzats que ocasiona no mostren cap senyal de disminuir. L'article conclou amb un breu esbós d'alguns dels reptes intel·lectuals i pràctics que ens esperen. ; The paper starts from the premise that it is vitally important to recognize that the rapid rate of planetary urbanization is the main driver of environmental change. Indeed, the 'sustainability' of contemporary urban life (understood as the expanded reproduction of its socio-physical form and functions) is responsible for 80% of the world's use of resources and most of the world's waste. We wish to highlight how these urban origins are routinely ignored in urban theory and practice, and how feeble techno-managerial attempts to produce more 'sustainable' forms of urban living are actually heightening the combined and uneven socio-ecological apocalypse that marks the contemporary dynamics of planetary urbanization. This paper is, therefore, not so much concerned with the question of nature IN the city, as it is with the urbanization OF nature, understood as the process through which all forms of nature are socially mobilized, economically incorporated and physically metabolized/transformed in order to support the urbanization process. First, we shall chart the strange history of how the relationship between cities and environments has been scripted and imagined over the last century or so. Second, we shall suggest how the environmental question entered urban theory and practice in the late 20th century. And, finally, we shall explore how and why, despite our growing understanding of the relationship between environmental change and urbanization and a consensual focus on the need for 'sustainable' urban development, the environmental conundrum and the pervasive problems it engenders do not show any sign of abating. We shall conclude by briefly charting some of the key intellectual and practical challenges ahead. ; El artículo parte de la premisa de que es de vital importancia reconocer que el principal impulsor de los cambios ambientales ha sido el galopante proceso de urbanización mundial. De hecho, la «sostenibilidad» de la vida urbana contemporánea -entendida como la reproducción ampliada de su forma social y natural y de su funcionamiento- es la responsable del uso del 80% de los recursos y de la generación de la mayor parte de los residuos mundiales. Este artículo tiene por objetivo resaltar cómo estas raíces urbanas son habitualmente ignoradas por gran parte de la teoría y la práctica urbanas, y cómo los débiles intentos tecnocráticos para adoptar formas más «sostenibles» de vida urbana en realidad siguen favoreciendo el apocalipsis socioecológico combinado y desigual y que marca las dinámicas contemporáneas de la urbanización mundial. De ahí que no se trata tanto de analizar la cuestión de la naturaleza en la ciudad, sino más bien de analizar la urbanización de la naturaleza (entendida como el proceso a través del cual todo tipo de naturalezas son socialmente movilizadas, económicamente incorporadas y físicamente metabolizadas/transformadas en beneficio del proceso de urbanización). En primer lugar, explicaremos cómo las relaciones entre las ciudades y el medio ambiente han sido descritas e imaginadas a lo largo del último siglo. En segundo lugar, indagaremos cómo la cuestión ambiental entró en la teoría y en la práctica urbana durante el siglo XX. Por último, averiguaremos cómo y por qué, a pesar del avance de nuestro conocimiento sobre la relación entre el cambio ambiental y la urbanización y un consenso focalizado en la necesidad de un desarrollo urbano «sostenible», la incógnita del medio ambiente y los problemas generalizados que ocasiona no muestran ninguna señal de disminuir. El artículo concluye con una breve aproximación a algunos de los retos intelectuales y prácticos que nos esperan. ; L'article suppose qu'il est essentiel de reconnaître que le principal moteur du changement environnemental a été le lent processus d'urbanisation mondiale. En fait, la «durabilité» de la vie urbaine contemporaine -comprise comme la reproduction élargie de sa forme sociale et naturelle et de son fonctionnement- est responsable de l'utilisation de 80% des ressources et de la production de la plupart des déchets mondiaux. Cet article vise à mettre en évidence la façon dont ces racines urbaines sont généralement ignorées par une partie de la théorie et de la pratique en milieu urbain, et le fait que les faibles tentatives technocratiques qui veulent adopter des formes plus «durables» de vie urbaine ne font plus que favoriser l'apocalypse socioécologique combinée et inégale qui marque les dynamiques contemporaines de l'urbanisation mondiale. Par conséquent, il n'est plus important d'analyser la question de la nature DANS la ville, mais plutôt celle de l'urbanisation DE la nature (comprise comme le processus par lequel toutes sortes de natures sont mobilisées socialement, économiquement et physiquement métabolisées/transformées au profit de l'urbanisation). En premier lieu, nous expliquerons comment les relations entre les villes et l'environnement ont été décrites et imaginées tout au long du siècle dernier. Nous analysons ensuite la manière dont les questions environnementales sont entrées dans la théorie et la pratique urbaine au XXe siècle. Enfin, nous exposerons comment et pourquoi, en dépit de l'avancement de nos connaissances sur la relation entre les changements environnementaux et l'urbanisation et du consensus qui a pour but un développement urbain «durable», la question de l'environnement et les problèmes généralisés qu'elle comporte ne montre aucun signe de ralentissement. L'article s'achève par une brève référence à certains des défis intellectuels et pratiques qui nous attendent.

This article departs from accounts that either deify Indignant Squares as a model for 21st century political praxis or demonize them as apolitical/post-political crowd gatherings. By performing a closer ethnographic reading of the Indignants' protests at Athens' Syntagma Square, we depict the Indignant Squares as a consensual and deeply spatialized staging of dissent, which nevertheless harbours in its underbelly internally conflicting and often radically opposing political imaginaries. A closer reading of the organization, practice and discourses that evolved at Syntagma Square unearths the existence of not one, but two distinct Indignant Squares, both at Syntagma, each with its own topography (upper and lower square), and its own discursive and material practices. Although both squares staged dissent, they nevertheless generated different (opposing, even) political imaginaries. The 'upper square' often divulged nationalistic or xenophobic discourses; the 'lower square' centred around more organized efforts to stage inclusive politics of solidarity. The paper suggests that, rather than focusing on the homogenizing terms Indignants' movement/Indignant Squares we should instead be trying to develop a more nuanced theoretical understanding and a more finely grained empirical analysis of the discursive and spatial choreographies of these events. This, we argue, would allow us to go beyond either celebrating them as new political imaginaries, or condemning them as expressions of a post-political era. Talking of 'Indignant Squares' in the plural helps one explore in more grounded ways both the limitations and the possibilities that these events offer for opening up (or closing down) democratic politics.

Technological networks (water, gas, electricity, information etc.) are constitutive parts of the urban. They are the mediators through which the perpetual process of transformation of nature into city takes place. In this article, we take water and water networks as an emblematic example to excavate the shifting meanings of urban technological networks during modernity. Indeed, as water becomes commodified and fetishized, nature itself becomes re‐invented in its urban form (aesthetic, moral, cultural codings of hygiene, purity, cleanliness etc.) and severed from the grey, 'muddy', kaleidoscopic meanings and uses of water as a mere use‐value. Burying the flow of water via subterranean and often distant pinpointed technological mediations (dams, purification plants, pumping stations) facilitates and contributes to masking the social relations through which the metabolic urbanization of water takes place. The veiled subterranean networking of water facilitates the severing of the intimate bond between use value, exchange value and social power. We argue that during early modernity, technologies themselves became enshrined as the sources of all the wonders of the city's water. Dams, water towers, sewage systems and the like were celebrated as glorious icons, carefully designed, ornamented and prominently located in the city, celebrating the modern promise of progress. During twentieth‐century high‐modernity, the symbolic and material shrines of progress started to lose their mobilizing powers and began to disappear from the cityscape. Water towers, dams and plants became mere engineering constructs, often abandoned and dilapidated, while the water flows disappeared underground and in‐house. They also disappeared from the urban imagination. Urban networks became 'urban fetishes' during early modernity, 'compulsively' admired and marvelled at, materially and culturally supporting and enacting an ideology of progress. The subsequent failure of this 'ideology of progress' is paralleled by their underground disappearance during high‐modernity, while the abandonment of their 'urban dowry' announced a recasting of modernity in new ways. We conclude that the dystopian underbelly of the city that at times springs up in the form of accumulated waste, dirty water, pollution, or social disintegration, produces a sharp contrast when set against the increasingly managed clarity of the urban environment. These contradictions are becoming difficult to be contained or displaced.Les grands réseaux techniques (eau, gaz, electricité, information etc.) font partie intégrale de l'urbain. Ce sont les médiateurs du processus continuel de la transformation de la nature urbaine. Dans cet article, nous prenons comme exemple emblématique l'eau et les réseaux d'eau afin d'explorer les significations changeantes des réseaux de technologie urbaine durant la période moderne. Alors que l'eau devient une marchandise fétichisée, la nature elle‐même est reinventée dans ses formes urbaines (esthétique, morale, codes culturels d'hygiène, purité, propreté etc.) et coupée des significations grises, 'ternes', kaléidoscopiques, et des utilisations de l'eau comme une simple valeur utilitaire. L'ensevelissement de l'eau par les médiations technologiques spécifiques souterraines et souvent distantes (barrages, usines de purification, stations de pompage) aide et contribue à masquer les relations sociales à travers lesquelles prend place l'urbanisation métabolique de l'eau. Les réseaux d'eau souterrains voilés facilitent la coupure du lien intime entre la valeur utilitaire, la valeur d'échange, et le pouvoir social. Nous soutenons que durant la première période de modernité les technologies elles‐mêmes devinrent inscrites comme sources de toutes les merveilles de l'eau de la ville. Les barrages, les réserves d'eau, les égoûts et d'autres éléments similaires étaient célébrés comme des icônes glorieux, conçus avec soin, ornés, et situés de façon prominente dans la ville, célébrant les promesses modernes de progrès. Durant la période de haute‐modernité du vingtième siècle, les lieux de pélerinage matériels et symboliques célébrant le progrès ont commencéà perdre leur pouvoir de mobilisation et à dispara?‘tre du paysage de la ville. Les réservoirs d'eau, les barrages et les installations industrielles devinrent simplement des constructions d'ingénieurs, souvent abandonnées et délabrées, alors que les courants d'eau disparurent sous terre et à l'intérieur. Tous s'effacèrent aussi de l'imagination urbaine. Les réseaux urbains devinrent des 'fétiches urbains' durant la première période de modernité, causant un émerveillement et une admiration 'obligatoires', culturellement et matériellement représentant et soutenant une idéologie de progrès. L'échec ultérieur de cette 'idéologie de progrès' a son parallèle dans leur disparition sous terre durant la période de haute modernité, alors que l'abandon de leur 'dot urbaine' annonçait un remaniement de la modernité dans des directions nouvelles. Nous concluons que le bas‐ventre dystopique de la ville qui surgit de temps à autre sous la forme d'accumulation de déchets, d'eau sale, de pollution, ou de désintégration sociale, produit un contraste marqué avec la clarté de plus en plus organisée de l'environnement urbain. Ces contradictions deviennent difficiles à contenir ou à supplanter.

"The Political Ecology of Austerity explores the scholarly and political debates surrounding the environmental dimension of austerity policies that has thus far escaped academic, policy and media attention. By contributing to a better comprehension of the full socio-environmental impact of austerity measures, the book highlights the importance of considering environmental issues when analysing austerity and in designing alternative responses to economic crisis in the future. Mobilising detailed case studies from across the western world, the volume documents the ways in which austerity impacts global and local ecologies and peoples, and shapes and gives rise to environmental conflicts and new forms and practices of social mobilization and resistance. By bringing together theoretical debates and rigorous case-study analysis, the book proposes the concept of 'the political ecology of austerity' as an academic and policy relevant term, and political ecology as an appropriate method of analysis that can inform our understanding of the significant shift in environmental protection policies and growth ideologies that we have witnessed over the past decade in the western world at the aftermath of the economic crisis. The Political Ecology of Austerity reveals austerity as neither a "rational" panacea for economic recovery, nor an "irrational" policy that further deepens the economic crisis. Rather, the volume discloses austerity to be a globalised set of tools not only for budgetary discipline, but also for socio-environmental discipline that justifies the continuation of growth-focused global environmental degradation. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of social and political sciences, environmental studies, urban studies and political ecology"--