Antologia sobre pequeno riego (review)

Antología sobre pequeño riego. Edited by Tomas Martinez Saldaña and Jacinta Palerm Viqueira. Mexico City: Colegio de Posgraduados, 1997. Tables. Figures. Notes. Bibliography. xiii, 433 pp. Paper.

Since Karl Wittfogel's classic study of the connections between control over water, political power, and the emergence of the state in ancient China, many scholars in Mexico have embraced this approach. Wittfogel's ideas have found more fertile ground in Mexico perhaps because of the pioneering work of Angel Palerm. This anthology makes no bones about following this stream of inquiry; in fact, the book is dedicated to Wittfogel. However, instead of providing a simple rehash of Wittfogel, the editors of this anthology provide a new model for the study of irrigation communities.

Unlike Wittfogel's study and his model, the editors use the perspective of a small system--that is, irrigation on a small level. Their perspective is rooted in the question of rural development. They hope that their proposed model will provide a less dichotomous approach, one that does not starkly oppose hydraulic regimes that are administered by either the state or an irrigation community. The essays deal both with theoretical approaches to irrigation and to case studies dealing with specific regions and problems. The focus overall is contemporary Mexico and none of the selections deals with irrigation in a historical perspective.

Their model is composed of two distinct parts. First they propose an examination of the limits between self-government and state intervention in the following elements: maintenance, water distribution, conflict resolution and construction. In the second part of their model, they study the causal factors that limit either self-government or state intervention. They list as important categories: the size and structure of an irrigation system, the interests of irrigators, previous experiences, and the interests of the state.

The essays that follow are composed of translations from the English of some classic essays on water like the article on Teotihuacán by René Million, Clara Hall, and May Díaz, for example, and others by Robert Fernea and Robert Hunt. The essays by Mexican scholars are based upon previously published monographs that are not so easily available outside of Mexico. The usefulness of this approach is to bring together essays that represent less accessible work and to try to build upon previous studies to elaborate an alternate model for the study of hydraulic regimes.

Irrigation remains a vital element of life in the Mexican countryside. Access to water is fundamental to prosperity and even survival yet many scholars have not recognized its importance in the dynamics of both rural and urban societies. This is an area where Mexican scholars are leading the way and have produced a really important literature on this topic--of which this anthology is but one book. Mexicanists outside Mexico should pay attention to this growing literature and begin to take it into account when studying Mexico.

Sonya Lipsett-Rivera
Carleton University

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