Water supply services management in Brazil: discussing privatization and financialization

Keywords: water supply services, privatization, Brazil
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 57

Abstract

Over the past three decades, water services in many countries have been metamorphosed. The de-territorialization of financial markets, accompanied by the expansion of private participation in services provision; the development of management guided by a business or market logic, in line with the strategies for the generation of private profit are common aspects during this period. Investors began to explore new frontiers for capital investment: “Water presented itself as a possible new frontier to harness, as a potential source for turning H2O into money and profit.” (Swyngedouw; Kaika; Castro, 2002, p. 9). For Bayliss (2013), the financialization of water supply services has been growing, indicating that the provider's economic, financial and institutional structure has come to support the interests of financial capital (Bayliss, 2013).
The objective of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of this debate in the Global South, analyzing new trends on water supply services management and on the action of private companies in Brazil. It is an exploratory work based on the systematization of international and national literature on this topic and in the analysis of documents/reports related to the private water companies.

References:
Bayliss, K. The Financialization of Water .Review of Radical Political Economics. 46(3):292-307 July 2013
Swyngedouw, E. Kaïka, M and Castro, E. Urban Water: A political-ecology perspective Built Environment, Special Issue on Water Management in Urban Areas, 2002, Vol. 28, , pp. 124-137