@DeakinCrim are so proud of HDR student, Alex Baird, and Prof Reece Walters on their publication ‘Water Theft Through the Ages: Insights for Green Criminology’ in Critical Criminology. That’s two publications in a week! Great work.
Contemporary criminological discourses identify the emerging phenomena of water theft in societies experiencing drought and water insecurity (Brisman et al. 2018). Such analyses point to policies of privatization, to the marketization and commodification of freshwater, and to state politics premised on trade and fiscal prosperity. Notwithstanding the relevance of such debates, this article demonstrates that water theft and regulations prohibiting and punishing such offenses are indeed not new. Throughout history, various civilizations and societies have created and administered laws to protect freshwater and to punish and prevent water theft. This article seeks to contribute to contemporary criminological discourses by identifying and analyzing the laws and regulations of water theft within select ancient civilizations. Such analyses provide insights at both a conceptual and practical level. Such past examples of water management, non-compliance and sanction provide useful insights into contemporary acts of water theft, water justice, and the future governance of life’s most essential resource. Access the article in full here.