This special issue aims at revisiting irrigation management in East Asia against the backdrop of rapid socio-economic transformation. We particularly welcome papers that probe into the institutional dynamics, policy processes, social relations and power struggles that are related to the co-management of irrigation systems by public, communal and private actors.
Key questions include, but are not limited to, the following:
- What is the performance of irrigation management in terms of water use efficiency, productivity, equity and sustainability?
- What are the trade-offs and implications involved in water allocation and distribution among different individuals, communities, regions and sectors?
- What new forms of water institutional arrangements and policies – in particular in terms of co-management by state and users and the introduction of intermediary entrepreneurs or market-driven instruments – have emerged and evolved in response to rapidly changing socio-economic settings?
- How have the combinations of broader governance frameworks, policy instruments, political economy and social norms influenced irrigation management?
- How have external shocks, policies and institutions been translated into everyday practices of irrigation management in specific socio-ecological settings?
- Why have irrigation institutions succeeded – or failed – to adapt to, and cope with, the new challenges of socio-economic transformations?
For this special issue, we are looking for contributions that are based on empirical work in a specific locality and/or comparatively across regions or countries, and which engage in theoretical discussions on the institutions, policies and practices of irrigation management in East Asia. We also welcome papers that take stock of historical changes in irrigation-based socio-ecological systems in the longue durée. Contributions may be grounded in fields and disciplines such as institutional and agricultural economics, human geography, political ecology, political economy, political science, sociology and anthropology.