Authoritarian neoliberalization of water governance: the case of China’s South–North Water Transfer Project

Abstract

China’s water governance not only involves highly technical interventions from the government but also reflects selected features of neoliberalization. Market and government interventions coexist, making the notion of ‘authoritarian neoliberalization’ a useful vantage point from which to understand water governance in China. The paper assesses the practices of water governance from the perspective of authoritarian neoliberalization by using the case of China’s South–North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP). First, China’s water governance practices contain elements of neoliberalization, including marketization, commodification and privatization. Second, its water governance also has authoritaria..