In this paper I draw upon a realist conceptualization of power to inform the analysis of ethnographic data on access to irrigation water and vulnerability to flood hazard in Pakistan. I undertake an integrated analysis of the role of different types of power in influencing differential vulnerability to flood hazard and access to irrigation water in four local-level villages in central Pakistan. Three modes of power are identified: the feudal mode, the bourgeoisie mode, and the communal mode. Each of the modes relies on force, socialization, and control over resources, respectively, to ensure compliance. The villages which are dominated by large landowners tend to have the feudal mode of power as the predominant power structure, whereas the villages with relatively equal property ownership tend to have the communal mode as the dominant power structure. The analyses of power suggest that the participatory reforms in the water sector of Pakistan proposed by the World Bank are unlikely to lead to gains in either equity or efficiency as long as issues of differential power remain unaddressed.
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