While last week I began to concentrate on the interconnected reaches of energy corporations, this week I have identified two more crucial concepts, specific to my situated context, which are in great need of investigation. In order to more completely understand the current Chilean Water Management system, I will need to analyze the Chilean Water Code, which was established in 1981. This decision allowed for the overwhelming privatization of water rights for the majority of Chile’s rivers, subsequently granting power to hydropower interests. However, this code was greatly inspired by Chile’s free market economic policies, which gained immense momentum in the 1970’s. These free market policies, promoting minimal state interference, are central to the complex and ever growing water rights issues Chile faces. While the Water Code is Chile specific, the economic movements of the 1970’s had much more international implications, which I will need to research in depth.
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