Is Water Scarcity a Global Issue?: Conceptualization and Theoretical Pinning of Global Water

• In Event: 50620 - Section on Environmental Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 19: Water Safety and Conservation

Abstract

Freshwater scarcity is an escalating global crisis driven by factors such as climate change, industrial and agricultural demands, pollution, and unequal distribution. Despite its critical role in sustaining human societies, economies, and ecosystems, water has largely been studied at local levels rather than within a broader global framework. This is largely because people tend to see water not as a resource that is extracted and shipped to other nations through trade. This paper conceptualizes water as a renewable natural resource, drawing parallels to timber, and argues that not only can it be studied in a global context, it is necessary to study in this fashion. It explores the concept of virtual water to highlight the hidden water consumption embedded in global trade and economic production. The study applies various sociological theories—such as metabolic rift, ecological unequal exchange, world-systems theory, the treadmill of production, and critical environmental justice—to analyze the structural drivers of water scarcity, emphasizing the role of capitalism, geopolitical power dynamics, and environmental degradation along with production of inequalities. Furthermore, it critiques conventional approaches to water conservation that disproportionately target municipal consumption while neglecting industrial and agricultural exploitation. By integrating global sociological theories with water research, this study aims to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of global water scarcity and inform future research that looks at water in a global fashion.

Author

• Joshua Cafferty, Utah Tech University