Rights and participation of communities in the South in global environmental discourses: some initial conceptual and theoretical issues

This paper examines the relationship between citizenship, science and risk, contextualing it in the broader frame of southern African security and development discourses, and in particular in the area of water security in the region. The first main point made is that the broader discussion of environmental security emphasises the need to move away from the traditional focus on state level interactions, towards a more nuanced analysis which tries to take into account other types of relations. This helps to understand global environmental risk as intricately linked with development and security discourses. Next, a North/South comparison is made of risk, followed by an assessment of the areas of water and conflict. Some recommendations are made:| Research in this area should pay more attention to the issue of community involvement, in particular gender, control over natural resources, and the relationship between academic and policy discourses;| Threats, risks and uncertainties could be better understood in the context of different actors priorities and contexts, given the ways in which æexpertÆ knowledge intersects with national policies and international environmental and development discourses;| In light of these points, there is more scope to analyse the future potential for altering the dynamics and discourses on participation, rights, and the environment which enhance human security.