The Meaning of Water

Water is both a physical resource and a cultural one. Veronica Strang argues that its meanings shape how people use it and how they relate to the companies and authorities that supply it. The book examines how these meanings are experienced and formed by individuals and by whole societies.

Its main case is the River Stour in Dorset. Her sources include fieldwork-based ethnography, cultural mapping, local archives and folklore, and she explores disputes over who owns and manages water. She also considers the social and political questions raised by water privatisation in the UK. These local questions connect to wider problems such as drought, rising water use per head and conflict over shared resources.

The book will interest readers of environmental and social research and anyone curious about the place water holds in everyday life.