Abstract

ROLDAN ALZATE, David; ARISTIZABAL JARAMILLO, Laura  and  HOYOS MARTINEZ, Liney. Fragmented territorial governance and community water management in Urabá (Colombia): practices, tensions and opportunities. Rev. Mex. Sociol [online]. 2026, vol.88, n.2, pp.419-448.  Epub May 14, 2026. ISSN 2594-0651.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iis.01882503p.2025.63079.

This article seeks to contribute the experience of Uraba to the theoretical reflection on governance, common-pool resources, and community water management. To this end, it analyzes three communities that synthesize Latin American problems such as the ineffectiveness of subnational State, the prevalence of criminal governance, community efforts to manage their resources, and the spatial transformations resulting from agro-export enclaves and infrastructure connectivity with capitalism. It is the product of a qualitative strategy developed in three research projects based on the analysis of official documents, interviews, and workshops on water governance in Uraba. It concludes that there is a chronic persistence of fragmented territorial governance, as a disjointed process of decision-making regarding the territory, based on institutional vocations at the national or circumstantial community levels and without a regional perspective, which leaves open the need to rethink the established formal institutions.

Keywords : community water management; territorial governance; participation; Urabá.

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