Feminist Political Ecology ( FPE ) Research on Irrigation: A Systematic Literature Review

Irrigation systems are socio‐technical systems whose sustainability depends on social relations and governance systems. However, most of the irrigation sector and research has largely been guided by apolitical, masculine, and technical discourses. We argue that a feminist political ecology (FPE) approach could support in‐depth analyses of social and political dynamics and provide original perspectives on irrigation research and practice. We conducted a systematic literature review of FPE research on irrigation, examining how FPE is defined, framed, and applied to research on irrigation, and conversely how irrigation is defined and analyzed through an FPE lens. We identify 12 FPE themes to study power relations and social inequities in irrigation, resources, labor, land, and tenure struggles across 21 studies. Our review shows that FPE provides a multi‐scalar, politicized, and social justice‐oriented approach to differentiated access to, and the impacts of, irrigation. FPE studies bring fresh insights into: (i) embodied and emotional labor and everyday struggles over irrigation, (ii) effects of household, care, and community relations on irrigation access and control, and (iii) often overlooked topics such as water infrastructural violence, gendered vulnerability, intersectionality, and marginalized social groups in irrigation systems. We note a gap between the theoretical potential of FPE and its application in practice. Some studies apply FPE apolitically, and only a few studies reflect on a decolonial approach to science, self‐reflexivity, and positionality. We recommend that future research engage more with concepts of body/embodiment, emotions, and care, and the link between the fluidity of water resources and dynamic power relations. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Human Water > Rights to Water Engineering Water > Planning Water