“Riverhood” and the Politics of (Mis)Recognizing Local Water Cultures and Water Rights Systems

An appreciation of the diversity of world water cultures – past and present – is essential to recognizing the conflicts and solutions that exist within water management. This article analyzes the intricacies of water governance and politics. It argues for new ways to recognize and negotiate the value of local water cultures, and proposes the term “Riverhood” as a way to understand the political, technological and cultural arenas in which water rights and governance frameworks are being shaped in grassroots movements’ everyday practice, in interaction with rivers’ adjacent social and ecological communities (www.movingrivers.org).