Governing the ungovernable: practices and circumstances of governance in the irrigation sector

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dc.creatorVenot, Jean-Philippe
dc.creatorSuhardiman, Diana
dc.date2014
dc.date2015-03-17T14:39:56Z
dc.date2015-03-17T14:39:56Z
dc.date.accessioned2026-06-27T18:40:24Z
dc.descriptionSince the early 2000s, governance has been at the core of the international water agenda. This has elicited calls for reforms in the irrigation sector, including efforts to address the problem of corruption. Nevertheless, the history of policy reform in the irrigation sector is one of repeated institutional refinements, which have hardly materialized into grounded policy measures and practices. Though international donors, policy makers, irrigation scholars and practitioners have long agreed to invest in the ‘soft issues’ of irrigation, most policy interventions have retained a focus on infrastructure-oriented development. This paper identifies decisive factors that preserve the status quo in irrigation development. We draw our analysis on empirical data from countries with a recent (Ghana, West Africa) and long (Indonesia) irrigation history. Beyond the idiosyncrasies of the two case studies that highlight that everyday practices are embedded in, and constrained by, existing institutional rules and mechanisms, but also contribute to shaping these, we make a broader theoretical point. We argue that the ‘business-as-usual’ trajectory that characterizes the irrigation sector is also rooted in the very concept of governance, which is fundamentally about “governing”, that is a practice aiming at steering people towards defined ends, and through different means such as infrastructure, management practices and policies.
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/58407
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/162353
dc.languageen
dc.rightsLimited Access
dc.sourceVenot, J.-P.; Suhardiman, Diana. 2014. Governing the ungovernable: practices and circumstances of governance in the irrigation sector. International Journal of Water Governance, 2:41-60.
dc.subjectirrigation management
dc.subjectdevelopment
dc.subjectgovernance
dc.subjectpolicy making
dc.subjectbureaucracy
dc.subjectwater resources
dc.subjectwater users associations
dc.subjectinvestment
dc.subjectreservoirs
dc.subjectfarmers
dc.subjectcase studies
dc.titleGoverning the ungovernable: practices and circumstances of governance in the irrigation sector
dc.typeJournal Article

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Instituto Internacional para el Manejo del Agua (IWMI)