Grassroots Special Section: Knowledge co-creation and water conservation in the Global South, edited by Emilie Dupuits, Cecilia Puertas & Jörg Balsiger

Freshwater supply as sociotechnical tinkering: the co-creation of water knowledge and assemblages in New Caledonia

Authors: Olga Peytavi (CIRAD/IAC) , Séverine Bouard orcid logo (IAC) , Pierre-Yves Le Meur orcid logo (IRD) , Caroline Lejars orcid logo (CIRAD)

  • Freshwater supply as sociotechnical tinkering: the co-creation of water knowledge and assemblages in New Caledonia

    Grassroots Special Section: Knowledge co-creation and water conservation in the Global South, edited by Emilie Dupuits, Cecilia Puertas & Jörg Balsiger

    Freshwater supply as sociotechnical tinkering: the co-creation of water knowledge and assemblages in New Caledonia

    Authors: , , ,

Abstract

This article aims to show that in-depth ethnography of processes and acts of sociotechnical tinkering provide a useful starting point for understanding how water knowledge co-creation works. This is even more relevant in countries with a strong legacy of settler colonization and continued power asymmetries between holders of different water-related knowledges and ontologies. Analyzing infrastructural and sociotechnical forms of tinkering helps understand how various water assemblages interact with official norms, strategies and laws. Drawing on the study of this tinkering practice, this article looks at how the people of Touho, in New Caledonia, assemble different forms of knowledge to understand, access and drink water.

Keywords: New Caledonia, Tinkering, Indigenous knowledge, Freshwater supply, Assemblages, Touho

How to Cite:

Peytavi, O., Bouard, S., Le Meur, P. & Lejars, C., (2023) “Freshwater supply as sociotechnical tinkering: the co-creation of water knowledge and assemblages in New Caledonia”, Journal of Political Ecology 30(1), 413–423. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5289

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Funding

  • CRESICA, New Caledonia

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Published on
14 Sep 2023
Peer Reviewed