A New Logic of Infrastructure Supply: The Commercialization of Water and the Transformation of Urban Governance in Germany

Part of a special issue on resistance to neoliberal globalization. The writers discuss the recent transformation of the water sector in Germany, where water privatization is part of a broader trend for commercialization. They seek to identify the forces that drive commercialization in an environment...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Wissen, Markus 1965- (Author) ; Naumann, Matthias (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2006
In: Social justice
Year: 2006, Volume: 33, Issue: 3, Pages: 20-37
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Neoliberalism
Water
Economic sectors
WATER supply
Commercialization
Infrastructure (Economics)
Municipal government
Water utilities
Privatization
Sewage disposal
Description
Summary:Part of a special issue on resistance to neoliberal globalization. The writers discuss the recent transformation of the water sector in Germany, where water privatization is part of a broader trend for commercialization. They seek to identify the forces that drive commercialization in an environment of abundance and the resulting consequences for urban governance. They outline the crisis of water supply and sewage disposal in shrinking regions, using the former East German city of Frankfurt (Oder) as an example. The writers conclude by examining the political dynamics that are induced, or at least strongly affected, by the process of infrastructural transformation.