PhD Researcher Becca Farnum recently reflected on the California Drought and social conflicts, cooperation, and peacebuilding amidst resource scarcity as a guest writer for The Society Pages, an open-acces social science project headquartered in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota bringing social science to broader public visibility and influence.
With co-author Evan Stewart, Farnum asserts that “California is facing record drought, water restrictions, and threats of wildfires. The solution seems simple—just find more water through increased pumping or desalination—but these quick fixes ignore deeper questions about how we turn public necessities into commodities and determine who can lay claim to natural resources. These issues can lead to cultural conflict, but struggles for water can also renew solidarity across different social groups.”
Read the rest at The Society Page’s post.