Civil society and the movement for public water: Water management and its transformation in the UK1 and Italy

Abstract

This chapter considers water supply within the general framework of the foundational economy. By highlighting the complex relationships in water governance between the public sector, the market and civil society, the chapter looks at the implications of the new financialised economy and the point value approach for universal access to drinking water. Moreover, it considers strengths but also limitations of the civic repair efforts toward social justice and sustainability in the water sector. First, the chapter provides an introduction to the evolution of the legal and regulatory framework for water supply in the UK and Italy. It then describes the devices of extraction and exploitation in water governance. Lastly, the chapter examines the most significant phases of the process for the remunicipalisation of water services in Italy.