The marketization of water: environmental movements’ narratives and common experiences on water transfer projects in Colorado and western Iran

ABSTRACT This comparative study explores how environmental movements in two different political economies, the US state of Colorado and western Iran, have experienced and framed water transfer projects as a mechanism for the marketization of water. It applies Polanyi’s and Harvey’s theories, using interviews with diverse social groups and various secondary data sources. The results show that, according to both social movements, water’s marketization has some similarities in terms of the commodification and commercialization of water. Still, different processes, means and mechanisms are used. The article highlights these similarities and differences by looking at the state’s role in two different contexts: a capitalist democracy (the United States) and a capitalist centralized statist system (Iran). The study finds that while some outcomes might be the same in Colorado and Iran for achieving the marketization of water, the means that the state/market uses to achieve those ends are different.