Going beyond Neoliberal Environment. Social provision of water services: a case for collective management

In almost three decades of predominantly market-based regimes for environmental goods and the marketization and privatization of public services, a number of communities, practitioners, and scholars have voiced discontent over policies that reproduce social inequality, restrict access to basic goods, and fail to efficaciously preserve the environment. An alternative to the current environmental governance has emerged: reclaiming the common property and management of environmental resources to provide crucial environmental goods. Defining a conceptual framework for assessing the feasibility of the environmental collective management of water services was the main aim of my research. The research underlined the relevant challenges posed by an efficacious and just provision of basic goods, where a strong collective approach is preferred over profit-led private intervention in the public services.