Control and flow: rethinking the sociology, technology and politics of water consumption

This chapter summarizes the control and flow of water consumptions, where spatial dimensions parallel different temporal dimensions, in which sustainability discourses are employed. The domain of human choice and consumption is heavily contested, and “eco-tourism,” however rhetorical, is a convenient label on which to hang contrary messages. Practical and theoretical implications for the representation and analysis of sustainable consumption are explained. The processes of ordering and management of the specific technologies involved in channeling and organizing water are also discussed. By implication, policy analysis that considers the institutions of water supply without taking note of the technological and other infrastructures through which actions and practices have effect are severely limited. To simplify the task, three genres of water technology are considered: “barriers” which is used to separate wet from dry, “containers” used to store water, and “purifiers” that is used to create and distinguish among different types.