Andreas Bieler Book order

In the wake of the global financial crisis, water services have come under renewed neoliberal assault across Europe. At the same time, the struggle against water privatization has continued to pick up pace; from the re-municipalization of water in Grenoble in 2000, to the United Nations declaration of water as a human right in 2010. In Fighting for Water, Andreas Bieler draws on years of extensive fieldwork to dissect the underlying dynamics of the struggle for public water in Europe. By analysing the successful referendum against water privatization in Italy, the European Citizens' Initiative on 'Water and Sanitation are a Human Right', the struggles against water privatization in Greece and water charges in Ireland, Bieler shows why water has been a fruitful arena for resistance against neoliberal restructuring.

The book argues that the resurgence of European integration in the mid-1980s and the formation of a "New Europe" must be understood within the context of globalization and the transnational restructuring of social forces that began in the early 1970s. It explores the interconnectedness of these developments, highlighting how they shaped the political and social landscape of Europe.