Stemming the Tide

"Tired debates over whether states or markets are superior providers of public goods have tended to dominate water and sanitation reform. Baer's comparison of a much-heralded model of water privatization with an equally famous case of rights-based resistance takes us beyond this controversy, illustrating how naïve adherence to any model that privileges states or markets while ignoring citizen participation and community-based alternatives is flawed. Her unique analysis provides valuable insights for theories of social transformation, and offers fertile ground for future researchers to cultivate." --LaDawn Haglund, Author of Limiting Resources: Market-Led Reform and the Transformation of Public Goods "Madeline Baer makes a central contribution to human rights and political science literatures alike with this compellingly written, theoretically provocative, and timely book. The implications of her findings should push scholarship and policymaking on economic rights in important new directions." --Shareen Hertel, University of Connecticut "Madeline Baer shows that state capacity to regulate suppliers, prevent corruption, and subsidize poor customers may be more important than whether the water is privately or publicly provided. Everyone interested in the fulfillment of economic human rights should read this important volume." --Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Author of State Food Crimes "Stemming the Tide makes an important contribution to the burgeoning literature on the right to water. Baer refuses to simply accept the conventional narratives and exposes the complexity and contradictions of realizing the right to water. As such, the book raises the scholarship on the right to water to a new level." --Inga Winkler, Author of The Human Right to Water