The neoliberalization of water in Lima, Peru

Neoliberalization of the water sector in Lima, Peru, is analyzed using an innovative conceptual framework with three interrelated dimensions: techno-environmental improvements, the monetization of water services and the search for political legitimacy. Application of this conceptual framework to the recent reforms of the public water services of Lima, a city historically fraught with social inequalities and water management problems, shows that there have been two distinctive phases: firstly, emphasis on techno-environmental improvements and monetization in the 1990s (when the privatization of the local water utility was the ultimate, but unfulfilled, goal); secondly, a focus on monetization and legitimization in the 2000s (marked by more flexible mechanisms of private sector involvement). Fieldwork in Lima reveals that positive results from increased investment in water services have been undermined by the discriminatory and short-term basis of neoliberalization of water. Problems of debt financing, neglect of equity of access to services and weak environmental sustainability threaten the long-term future.

► Water neoliberalism is part of the broader process of the neoliberalization of nature.
► Three internal dimensions: techno-environmental, marketization & political legitimacy.
► Those dimensions depend on socio-ecological and politico-geographical circumstances.
► Water reforms in Lima (Peru) have closely followed water neoliberalization objectives.
► The national state has been the main promoter of water neoliberalization in Lima.