Issue 22: Women & Water

Issue 22 of Open Rivers takes up some of the complex set of issues surrounding the relationships of women and water. As readers have come to expect from the journal, the perspectives offered here add depth and nuance to many everyday considerations of women and water, whether offered in the academic or public spheres. As editor Laurie Moberg puts the matter, “The confrontations that emerge here between women and water focus less on conclusions and more on ever-ongoing processes of engaging with water as a site of trauma, of change, and of possibility.” Teaching, talking, and writing about trauma can be difficult, of course, but in order to explore fully the interconnectedness of human and biogeophysical systems of water, this difficulty must be faced. The components of the issue are quite variable, including intensely personal essays, reports of community-based action research, photographs, analysis of literary works, and more. In this regard, format does indeed parallel function: the openness of new ideas and perspectives requires an openness to multiple ways of expression. 

Moberg’s Introduction closes with a ringing call for continued attention to this complex subject, arguing that, “Similarly, women’s choices and practices, whether engaging water directly or indirectly, shape our water systems. We share this collection of articles as a reminder: we are always in relationship with water. Perhaps what matters most is determining what kind of future we want and acting to build relationships with water that make that future possible.” For a just, sustainable, water future, the voices, viewpoints, and perspectives of women simply must be included, if not centered.