Gastvortrag im Rahmen des Osnabrücker Geographischen Kolloquiums | "Waters in the Plural: Approaches and opportunities for more grounded water research" | Referent: Prof. Dr. Jamie Linton, Université de Limoges, Frankreich, GEOLAB Géographie Physique et Environnementale

In this talk I will respond to calls for more grounded, territorialized water research by highlighting approaches to studying waters in the plural. In recent years, researchers have shown a growing interest in the plurality of water cultures and the heterogeneity of waters. This interest may be set against approaches based a singular notion of water that have dominated modern water research and water management. I will briefly trace the development of this modern idea of water as well as the circumstances that have given rise to growing interest in multiple waters. I will discuss what is meant when researchers and others refer to different waters by making reference to the distinction between cultural relativity – which hangs on differing perceptions or interpretations of the underlying reality of water – and ontological pluralism, whereby the essence of water itself differs in relation to the circumstances in which it occurs. I will consider water research in the social sciences and humanities over the past 20 years that has drawn attention to both these ways of understanding waters in the plural and consider some of the opportunities for more grounded research associated with these developments.