Reflexive accountability in water governance: navigating ethical crossroads

Purpose This study examines how people involved in river-care initiatives understand and enact accountability when structural accountability systems are influenced by political control. Drawing on Archer's critical realism, it explores how identity and reflexive thinking enable actors to navigate the ethical limits of structural accountability in addressing river pollution and water scarcity. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was adopted, combining reflexive life-history interviews with longitudinal fieldwork involving NGO officers and community members engaged in river-care programmes in Malaysia. Findings River-care commitments are constrained by structural accountability shaped by political intervention and factionalism. Actors employ communicative, autonomous, and collaborative modes of reflexivity, often rooted in identity formation, to reinterpret, adapt, or circumvent imposed accountability demands. We term this reflexive accountability, manifested through human reflexivity grounded in moral judgement, identity, and lived experience, facilitating navigation of ethical limits. Originality/value This study introduces reflexive accountability, illustrating how reflexivity enables actors to navigate the ethical limits of NGO accountability and water governance in politicised settings. It is a nuanced form of subjective accountability that complements structural accountability systems in addressing complex environmental challenges.