The negative campaigning in Rochester and Strood may have long-lasting implications for attitudes towards immigrants and the poor

What impact may the Rochester and Strood campaign, which was primarily about immigration and its impact on the welfare system, have on the way its citizens perceive and interact with one another? Trude Sundberg looks at the research and argues that political campaigns coloured by anti-immigrant sentiments potentially have a long-lasting negative impact on citizens’ concern towards the living conditions of others in their community, particularly impacting their judgement of the poor and negativity towards immigrants

A transdisciplinary and collaborative urban water security framework: Developed through an interdisciplinary study in Kolkata, India

Urban water security (UWS) is and will remain a crucial issue over the next decades, especially as it is exacerbated by climate change effects and related hazards. Despite the growing number of studies focusing on more diverse dimensions, including social dimensions, of water security and urban dynamics, there is still an absence of comprehensive, interdisciplinary UWS measurement index that takes into account the complexity and multidimensional aspects of water security. This article discusses a new, transdisciplinary community-focused approach to analyzing and responding to water insecurity. It draws on findings from a large study carried out over 4 years with a focus on creating a new and comprehensive way of measuring water security, incorporating biophysical and social factors. The project collected data in Kolkata, India. Kolkata is an important megacity in a developing country, facing rising pressures on water-environmental provision due to rapid population growth and urbanization combined with governance and infrastructural issues. The project team worked collaboratively with affected communities to create a comprehensive framework for measuring and evaluating water security for cities. A water justice approach to water security we argue is particularly important in emerging countries, and one that can be effectively applied to environments where urban growth and resultant shrinking resources have created complicated and fragile systems. This approach adds to existing knowledge and research that focuses on collaborative interdisciplinary methods that aim to create solutions that can help create a sustainable water secure future “leaving no one behind.

The negative campaigning in Rochester and Strood may have long-lasting implications for attitudes towards people and the poor

What impact may the Rochester and Strood campaign, which was primarily about immigration and its impact on the welfare system, have on the way its citizens perceive and interact with one another? Trude Sundberg looks at the research and argues that political campaigns coloured by anti-person sentiments potentially have a long-lasting negative impact on citizens’ concern towards the living conditions of others in their community, particularly impacting their judgement of the poor and negativity towards people

Assessment of water security in socially excluded areas in Kolkata, India: An approach focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene

Water security is essential not only to ensure the availability and accessibility of water for drinking, producing food, washing, but also to maintain both human and environmental health. The 2011 Census of India reveals that 17.4% of urban households in India live in deprived areas in urban landscapes which are designated as slums in the Census dataset. The increasing number of people living in these areas poses serious challenges to the provision of basic urban water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) services. Perceived susceptibility of risks from contaminated water and lack of proper sanitation and hygiene will be addressed in the light of social exclusion factors. This study attempts to assess the present situation of water, sanitation and required hygiene provisions within the areas defined as slums by the Census of India 2011 in Kolkata, India. Based on the results obtained from the datasets from the census, and a household survey, we identified a lack of supplies associated with WaSH provisions in these areas of Kolkata. The WaSH provisions in the slum areas of Kolkata city are facing various issues related to regularity, quality and quantity of supplied water. Additionally, there is poor maintenance of existing WaSH services including latrine facilities and per capita allocation of a sustainable water security among the slum dwellers. By adding to our understanding of the importance of factors such as gender, religions, and knowledge of drinking water in deprived areas, the study analyses the links between both physical and social issues determining vulnerability and presence of deprivation associated with basic WaSH provisions as human rights of slum communitie

Reappraising Natures and Perspectives of Wasteland in the Developing World with a Focus on India

This article seeks to provide an improved and more comprehensive understanding of the concept and theories on wasteland. It achieves this by focusing on the Indian context, allowing us to unpack the importance of including multiple perspectives of wasteland narratives; this means including more positive narratives of the potential of wasteland to inform and improve prospects for land policies in the Global South. Wasteland is commonly recognized as an underutilized category of land that may transform into a valuable resource base with proper management measures. The term waste has multiple angles that carry different notions ranging from fallow to agroforestry land in the Global South and brownfield to green space in the Global North. We conduct a narrative review approach to qualitatively analyze the concept of wastelands, which has been studied in the pre-existing literature from 1970 to the present. This unsystematic literature review approach incorporates multiple elements of wasteland discourse, like understanding the meaning of the term on a global scale, setting out the meaning of the term waste into multiple perspectives explicitly in the Indian context, along with different classes and management approaches to wasteland from a national perspective. The multiple perspectives of wasteland not only generate misconceptions of land resources but spawn difficulties in land-use policy, particularly for the Indian scenario. For sustainable land-use policy, reclaiming wasteland would be the best possible way for India and other countries in the Global South, which requires a comprehensive methodological overview on wasteland narrative

An Integrated Quantitative Assessment of Urban Water Security of a Megacity in the Global South

Water security, the access to adequate amounts of water of adequate quality, is and will remain a hugely important issue over the next decades as climate change and related hazards, food insecurity, and social instability will exacerbate insecurities. Despite attempts made by researchers and water professionals to study different dimensions of water security in urban areas, there is still an absence of comprehensive water security measurement tools. This study aims to untangle the interrelationship between biophysical and socio-economic dimensions that shape water security in a megacity in the Global South—Kolkata, India. It provides an interdisciplinary understanding of urban water security by extracting and integrating relevant empirical knowledge on urban water issues in the city from physical, environmental, and social sciences approaches. To do so we use intersectional perspectives to analyze urban water security at a micro (respondent) level and associated challenges across and between areas within the city. The study concludes with the recommendation that future studies should make use of comprehensive and inclusive approaches so we can ensure that we leave no one behind

Water Insecurity and Rights Erosion: A Comprehensive Analysis of Rohingya Refugee Camps in New Delhi

This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the critical issue of water insecurity and its multifaceted impact on and relationship to the human rights and environmental justice conditions within Rohingya refugee camps located in New Delhi, India. A comprehensive mixed-methods approach was employed to investigate water-related challenges within a refugee camp in Madanpur Khadar, region in Delhi. Qualitative methods including focused group discussions and one-on-one household interviews were conducted to allow residents’ perceptions from diverse groups and examine their experiences. Structured surveys were administered to gather quantitative data on water access, sanitation, health, and socio-economic factors. Additionally,, literature surveys and document archival research provided contextual insights. This study underscores the pressing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) challenges faced by Rohingya refugees in the area, revealing irregular water supply, impacting residents’ daily lives and hygiene practices. The majority of families in the camp, with an average of 6 members in each family, can only collect 30–40 L of water to meet all their needs, from consumption to personal hygiene, which is significantly insufficient. This situation has resulted in severe health consequences for the camp residents. Alarmingly, over 90% of the female respondents reported experiencing issues such as urinary infections. This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of the multidimensionality of rights that intersect with and are affected by WaSH issues. The poor WaSH conditions in the camp directly hinder the fulfillment of fundamental human rights. It not only disrupts the basic sanitation need but has negative economic repercussions and causes mental distress. This study concludes by targeted recommendations aimed at improving the conditions prevailing within the camp

In Difference We Grow

A 62 year old woman is pulled out of the bus she is travelling on and beaten up. Why? Because she has dark skin and head scarf. In a different country, at a different time a disabled person is doing her shopping at her local supermarket with a friend, and when asking a question to the shop assistant, the shop assistant turns to her friend to answer the question. In another location, a recently unemployed man opens the newspaper and sighs, another day, another headline about lazy welfare claimants. These three stories have something in common. They all relate to how our negative stereotypes of certain groups in society affect people’s daily lives, and reflect an overall lack of solidarity and concern for some groups in society. This is particularly important to emphasize in the wake of the latest terrorist attacks in Paris, where governments again are faced with a choice, a choice of dividing or uniting. Should they choose to target certain groups, associating them with labels and stereotypes, and, as a result, divide societies further? Or, should they seek to use rhetoric that unites? Attitude research shows that media coverage and language, political rhetoric as well as policies associating certain groups with negative stereotypes can lead to divisions and negative stereotypes amongst the wider public. In other words, negative stereotypes used in the media, by politicians and in our daily lives have real consequences not only for individuals’ lives but also for the concern people in societies show for each other