Suchergebnisse

This paper applies Karl Wittfogel' s theory of hydraulic societies to China’s relationship with Tibet. It argues that the Chinese are interested in control over Tibet not only for its land, location, or wealth of natural resources, but also for control of its headwaters. Hundreds of millions of people rely on the numerous large rivers that start in the Tibetan plateau, making the region a critically important water supply for Asia. Wittfogel’s work theorizes that China’s territory and authority has expanded with the need to secure water for its large population and food production. The paper contains two sections: the first summarizes Wittfogel’s arguments, a history of Tibet, and China’s control of it; the second describes China’s attempts to modernize Tibet, specifically through river development, and the environmental damage caused by such efforts. Tibet’s rivers are crucial for the entirety of Asia, and the Plateau’s massive supplies of water are just one of its many resources. By focusing on rivers, this article describes the importance of Tibet and how increasing levels of resource extraction legitimatize Chinese centralized authority.

AbstractDue to increased demands for irrigation water, the availability of groundwater has been a growing problem in Kansas, where the future of the High Plains aquifer is in jeopardy. This article investigates the environmental stewardship of Kansas well owners, a key social group whose protection of water supplies is pivotal to prolonging groundwater formations. My guiding research question is: Does owning a well lead to a distinct form of citizenship? To answer this, I constructed one of the only data sets of well owners used in sociology by surveying 864 well owners and non–well owners throughout Kansas. My findings reveal that well owners are more aware of the state's water supplies than the general population, they express environmental motivations to conserve water, they deliberately conserve water more often than non–well owners, and well ownership is significantly correlated with highly ranking water security as a challenge facing Kansas. Furthermore, a majority of well owners check their well depth and test for water contamination, routines that connect them to their water supply. This suggests that well owners exhibit "groundwater citizenship" and can be conceptualized as aquifer stewards.

Extreme demands for crop irrigation and droughts have stressed water supplies in Kansas, making the state increasingly reliant on its underground reserves of freshwater. As precipitation and the availability of surface water become less reliable, aquifers (reservoirs of groundwater) remain one of the only sources of water in the High Plains. Growing demands for water are tapping aquifers beyond their natural rates of replenishment, which has profound implications for sustaining communities in a region prone to drought. This dissertation investigates the water conservation efforts, environmental priorities, and water supply awareness of Kansas well owners, a key social group whose actual and potential water usage is pivotal to understanding and safeguarding groundwater formations. My main research goal is to learn how the reliance on different water supply infrastructures influences water usage. The central research question is: Does owning and using a well change the propensity to conserve water? This is a relevant question because previous research investigating the reproduction of conservation behaviors has not adequately explored how systems of water provision contribute to resource management decisions. To address this omission, I constructed one of the only datasets of well owners used in social scientific research by surveying well owners and non-well owners throughout Kansas (n = 864). Well owners are a key social group whose actual and potential water usage is pivotal to safeguarding groundwater formations, and researching well owners' conservation efforts will be key to aquifer preservation and wider water management policies. Previous research has outlined how some demographic predictors like political views, age, and sex are tentatively correlated with pro-environmental behaviors; however, my work finds that a household's water supply moderates several relationships associated with water conservation. This finding suggests that infrastructure contextualizes the adoption of conservation habits, and ...

Abstract
The feminization of environmental responsibility holds that women more actively engage in pro-environmental behaviors compared to men. We highlight the gendered patterns of water conservation in a drought-prone region above the High Plains aquifer (HPA). Using qualitative and quantitative data from well owners and non-well owners across Kansas (n = 864), we investigate how gender moderates the relationship between several demographic variables and watering practices. Our multigroup regression results suggest that, among men, being a well owner, politically conservative, and living above the HPA are negatively associated with drought-time water conservation. Qualitatively, women in our study point out the gendered nature of water conservation, while men did not; moreover, we find evidence that male-dominated irrigation reinforces unsustainable groundwater extractions.