Variable Histories and Geographies of Marketization and Privatization, Leila M Harris

Water privatization and marketization are unfolding in distinct ways in various places and regions.  This paper traces the contours of the variable histories and geographies of privatization and marketization, including the history of private water provision in North America and Europe, and the contemporary push of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to promote these shifts in the Global South. The chapter also considers more recent waves of resistance to these reforms, including constitutional reforms in several Latin American contexts.  Conceptually, the chapter argues that the concept of variegation is helpful to make sense of these patterns and experiences