A Feminist Political Ecology of Where Water “Should” and “Should Not” Be: Insights from Northern Thailand and Amazonian Peru

In this era of profound environmental change and destructive environmental hazards, much of the media and academic discussion focuses on where water “should not be”—referring to extreme flood events and their implications for social-ecological systems. Challenging normative framings, in this article I focus on culturally and contextually specific human–environment relations to alternatively consider where water “should be” and “should sometimes be.” Specifically, I build on feminist political ecology debates on the everyday dimensions of nature–society relations to uncover individual expectations of natural resources. First, I examine the highlands of northern Thailand, where ethnic Hmong are struggling to maintain viable agricultural production with growing concerns of water scarcity. I draw on contested environmental histories to question where water “should be” in abundance—but is not. Second, I consider Amazonian Peru, where long-standing floodplain settlements rely on the annual flood cycle to sustain livelihoods and riverine lifeways. The increased prevalence of irregularities in the flood pulse, however, are generating new questions for human–environment relations in this setting where water “should sometimes be.” Advancing a lived feminist political ecology approach, I argue that beyond the materialities of water presence (or absence), environmental change is also shaping intimate expectations in human–water relations.