Abstract
Abstract
Privatization and commodification of water through the 1980s Chilean Water Code led to a strong imbalance between human rights and environmental integrity and corporate profit in the Chilean water market during the last 30 years. This imbalance has generated conflicts over water access and democratic governance of watersheds. In addition current Chilean water policies undermine 2010 United Nations General Assembly recognition of water access and sanitization as an essential human right, and a legal obligation for national states. In this context, the Chilean Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y la Vida (Water and Life Defense Coordinator) is fighting to recover water for the Chilean people as a common good under the public domain, and setting a social and environmental justice agenda that overpasses the traditional demand for nationalization that restricts public domain to the State control over natural resources.
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