Irrigate to accumulate
Abstract
Abstract Speculation through enclosure and irrigation at the edges of Jordan's urban expansion into the desert has coincided in recent years with an ever-louder discourse of water scarcity, and a moral concern over the use of groundwater via illegal wells, eroding the viability of small-scale agriculture. Tracing a specific case of a speculative gambit and placing it in relation to a nearby agricultural community experiencing the disastrous effects of water scarcity, I explore how rural and peri-urban Bedouin anxiously anticipate various uneasily coexisting futures around land and water, between personal enrichment and wider social and environmental ruination.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Water Governance and Infrastructure
Water management and technologies
Urban and Rural Development Challenges
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Focaal
- Publisher
- Berghahn Books
- Volume
- 2026
- Issue
- 105
- Pages
- 53–66
- Publication date
- 1 June 2026
- Language
- EN