A Drop in the Ocean. On Writing Histories of Water Resources Management

Maurits W. Ertsen; Ruth A. Morgan

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-60147-8_4

A Drop in the Ocean. On Writing Histories of Water Resources Management

Maurits W. Ertsen, Ruth A. Morgan

Water Resources

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

30 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This text builds on the shared focus of historians and engineers to understand how particular circumstances came to be. In their endeavours, engineers regularly turn attention to the past, many times with the explicit aim to build on the past. In this chapter, it is discussed why these water histories written by engineers are vulnerable to being less correct. Using a range of scholarship on water history and shared experiences within the International Water History Association, we discuss the core of any historical scholarship: a drive to demonstrate and understand the complexity of the past. As such, this chapter wants to warn against the engineering drive to use (water) history as a guide towards the future. Instead, we propose a perspective of history as a way of reading and understanding the complex paths we have travelled until now.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Handbook of Water Resources Management
Subtitle of host publication	Discourses, Concepts and Examples
Editors	Janos J. Bogardi, Joyeeta Gupta, K. D. Wasantha Nandalal, Léna Salamé, Ronald R.P. van Nooijen, Navneet Kumar, Tawatchai Tingsanchali, Anik Bhaduri, Alla G. Kolechkina
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	89-103
Number of pages	15
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030601478
ISBN (Print)	9783030601454
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60147-8_4
Publication status	Published - 2021

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

Historiography
Grand narratives
Deserts
Colonial irrigation
Climate change

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1007/978-3-030-60147-8_4

Ertsen-Morgan2021_Chapter_ADropInTheOceanOnWritingHistorFinal published version, 288 KB

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Ertsen, M. W., & Morgan, R. A. (2021). A Drop in the Ocean. On Writing Histories of Water Resources Management. In J. J. Bogardi, J. Gupta, K. D. W. Nandalal, L. Salamé, R. R. P. van Nooijen, N. Kumar, T. Tingsanchali, A. Bhaduri, & A. G. Kolechkina (Eds.), Handbook of Water Resources Management: Discourses, Concepts and Examples (pp. 89-103). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60147-8_4

Ertsen, Maurits W. ; Morgan, Ruth A. / A Drop in the Ocean. On Writing Histories of Water Resources Management. Handbook of Water Resources Management: Discourses, Concepts and Examples. editor / Janos J. Bogardi ; Joyeeta Gupta ; K. D. Wasantha Nandalal ; Léna Salamé ; Ronald R.P. van Nooijen ; Navneet Kumar ; Tawatchai Tingsanchali ; Anik Bhaduri ; Alla G. Kolechkina. Cham : Springer, 2021. pp. 89-103

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abstract = "This text builds on the shared focus of historians and engineers to understand how particular circumstances came to be. In their endeavours, engineers regularly turn attention to the past, many times with the explicit aim to build on the past. In this chapter, it is discussed why these water histories written by engineers are vulnerable to being less correct. Using a range of scholarship on water history and shared experiences within the International Water History Association, we discuss the core of any historical scholarship: a drive to demonstrate and understand the complexity of the past. As such, this chapter wants to warn against the engineering drive to use (water) history as a guide towards the future. Instead, we propose a perspective of history as a way of reading and understanding the complex paths we have travelled until now.",

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Ertsen, MW & Morgan, RA 2021, A Drop in the Ocean. On Writing Histories of Water Resources Management. in JJ Bogardi, J Gupta, KDW Nandalal, L Salamé, RRP van Nooijen, N Kumar, T Tingsanchali, A Bhaduri & AG Kolechkina (eds), Handbook of Water Resources Management: Discourses, Concepts and Examples. Springer, Cham, pp. 89-103. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60147-8_4

A Drop in the Ocean. On Writing Histories of Water Resources Management. / Ertsen, Maurits W.; Morgan, Ruth A.
Handbook of Water Resources Management: Discourses, Concepts and Examples. ed. / Janos J. Bogardi; Joyeeta Gupta; K. D. Wasantha Nandalal; Léna Salamé; Ronald R.P. van Nooijen; Navneet Kumar; Tawatchai Tingsanchali; Anik Bhaduri; Alla G. Kolechkina. Cham: Springer, 2021. p. 89-103.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review

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PY - 2021

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N2 - This text builds on the shared focus of historians and engineers to understand how particular circumstances came to be. In their endeavours, engineers regularly turn attention to the past, many times with the explicit aim to build on the past. In this chapter, it is discussed why these water histories written by engineers are vulnerable to being less correct. Using a range of scholarship on water history and shared experiences within the International Water History Association, we discuss the core of any historical scholarship: a drive to demonstrate and understand the complexity of the past. As such, this chapter wants to warn against the engineering drive to use (water) history as a guide towards the future. Instead, we propose a perspective of history as a way of reading and understanding the complex paths we have travelled until now.

AB - This text builds on the shared focus of historians and engineers to understand how particular circumstances came to be. In their endeavours, engineers regularly turn attention to the past, many times with the explicit aim to build on the past. In this chapter, it is discussed why these water histories written by engineers are vulnerable to being less correct. Using a range of scholarship on water history and shared experiences within the International Water History Association, we discuss the core of any historical scholarship: a drive to demonstrate and understand the complexity of the past. As such, this chapter wants to warn against the engineering drive to use (water) history as a guide towards the future. Instead, we propose a perspective of history as a way of reading and understanding the complex paths we have travelled until now.

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PB - Springer

CY - Cham

ER -

A Drop in the Ocean. On Writing Histories of Water Resources Management

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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