When coping strategies become the norm : household water insecurity in the Dominican Republic
(2025) In International Development Planning Review 47(2). p.175-197- Abstract
There is a growing consensus that global monitoring of water access greatly underestimates household water insecurity worldwide. Measures that overlook the intricacies of accessing water lead to an overinflated sense of progress towards universal water access. This article illustrates the complexity of household water access by revealing the causes and impacts of household water insecurity in the Dominican Republic. A mixed-methods case study approach is adopted, which combines a household survey with interviews and immersive research. Households are shown to adopt numerous strategies to cope with the fractured system of water delivery, including using multiple sources of water, storing water, sharing and borrowing water, and engaging... (More)
There is a growing consensus that global monitoring of water access greatly underestimates household water insecurity worldwide. Measures that overlook the intricacies of accessing water lead to an overinflated sense of progress towards universal water access. This article illustrates the complexity of household water access by revealing the causes and impacts of household water insecurity in the Dominican Republic. A mixed-methods case study approach is adopted, which combines a household survey with interviews and immersive research. Households are shown to adopt numerous strategies to cope with the fractured system of water delivery, including using multiple sources of water, storing water, sharing and borrowing water, and engaging in exchanges of social capital. Although individual activities are integral to the ongoing functioning of water infrastructure, the impact and cost of systemic reliance on these creates an unacceptably high user burden. Moreover, these strategies exacerbate household water insecurity, the very phenomenon they are employed to mitigate.
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- author
- Brown, Hannah Sadie ; Gough, Katherine V. LU ; Kayaga, Sam and Longley, Andrew J.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-04
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- bodies as infrastructure, coping strategies, household water insecurity, mixed methods, people as infrastructure, water access
- in
- International Development Planning Review
- volume
- 47
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 23 pages
- publisher
- Liverpool University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105003235334
- ISSN
- 1474-6743
- DOI
- 10.3828/idpr.2024.21
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f4b68746-bc46-4b03-bab4-a07c6da00add
- date added to LUP
- 2025-08-12 15:24:32
- date last changed
- 2025-08-13 10:27:21
@article{f4b68746-bc46-4b03-bab4-a07c6da00add,
abstract = {{<p>There is a growing consensus that global monitoring of water access greatly underestimates household water insecurity worldwide. Measures that overlook the intricacies of accessing water lead to an overinflated sense of progress towards universal water access. This article illustrates the complexity of household water access by revealing the causes and impacts of household water insecurity in the Dominican Republic. A mixed-methods case study approach is adopted, which combines a household survey with interviews and immersive research. Households are shown to adopt numerous strategies to cope with the fractured system of water delivery, including using multiple sources of water, storing water, sharing and borrowing water, and engaging in exchanges of social capital. Although individual activities are integral to the ongoing functioning of water infrastructure, the impact and cost of systemic reliance on these creates an unacceptably high user burden. Moreover, these strategies exacerbate household water insecurity, the very phenomenon they are employed to mitigate.</p>}},
author = {{Brown, Hannah Sadie and Gough, Katherine V. and Kayaga, Sam and Longley, Andrew J.}},
issn = {{1474-6743}},
keywords = {{bodies as infrastructure; coping strategies; household water insecurity; mixed methods; people as infrastructure; water access}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{175--197}},
publisher = {{Liverpool University Press}},
series = {{International Development Planning Review}},
title = {{When coping strategies become the norm : household water insecurity in the Dominican Republic}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/idpr.2024.21}},
doi = {{10.3828/idpr.2024.21}},
volume = {{47}},
year = {{2025}},
}