Cultural politics and the hydrosocial cycle: Water, power and identity in the Andean highlands

► Water management needs transdisciplinary and multi-domain examination. ► Hydrocosmological cycles entwine hydrology, ecology, lifetime and cosmology cycles. ► Hydrocosmological cycles enable analysis of water culture, cultural politics and power. ► Dominant hydrosocial discourses naturalize and legitimize unequal power structures. ► Dominant hydrosocial cycle constructs are mediated by alternative truth regimes.