Two Seminars of Interest

The following are two seminars that may be of interest. Both seminars are located on the OSU campus and open to the public, anyone interested on the topic is encouraged to attend.


Advancing China’s Food Security by Managing Soil Quality
Date: Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Location:103 Kottman Hall, OSU West Campus

SENR AUTUMN 2011 SEMINAR SERIES
Host: Rattan Lal
For More Information
visit http://senr.osu.edu or call 614.292.2265
The School of Environment and Natural Resources
presents Mingsheng Fan
Associate Professor, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University
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After Cochabamba’s Water War: Water, Scarcity, and Injustice in the Heart of Evo’s Bolivia
Dr. Amber Wutich
CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY WORKING GROUP

Date: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Time: 2:00-3:30PM
Location: 038 Townshend Hall
1885 Neil Ave Mall
Cols., OH 43210

For more information:
http://clas.osu.edu
Dr. Barbara Piperata
piperata.1@osu.edu
Erika Colijn
colijn.2@osu.edu
Sponsored by:The Center for Latin American Studies and The Honors and Scholars Program


The “Water War” of 2000 in Cochabamba, Bolivia was widely celebrated
as a triumph of impoverished Bolivians over avaricious private
water companies. This event also marked a major turning point
in Bolivian national politics, and was followed by the election of Evo
Morales, a leftist indigenous activist who played an important role in
the Water War, as president. Given the victory of the Water War and
the broader shift toward policies that prioritize social justice in Bolivia,
many assume that water-related scarcity and injustice have disappeared
in Cochabamba. In reality, however, the exclusion of
Cochabamba’s squatter settlements—containing nearly half of the
city’s population—from the municipal water system has continued
largely unabated since the Water War. This lecture examines how
Cochabamba’s squatters survive in the face of institutional injustice
and severe water scarcity, with a particular focus on local commons
and reciprocal institutions. It also documents the biocultural costs for
squatters, including nutritional impacts, sanitation-related health
risks, and emotional distress. The lecture concludes by putting the
water scarcity and institutional injustice experienced by Cochabamba’s
squatters in cross-cultural perspective.