Working rivers
- Publisher:
- ANU Press
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- International Review of Environmental History, 2018, 4, (1), pp. 111-124
- Issue Date:
- 2018-05-04
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| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WORKING_RIVERS.pdf | Published version | 110.65 kB |
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For many people, rivers are understood and expected to fulfil functions-to 'work' in some sense. The word 'work' itself is loaded with emotion and value judgement, but beyond this, it is often the case that the work in which people are employed shapes the way they see and value rivers. This paper considers five different ways in which different groups of people in rural New South Wales, eastern Australia, might identify the work that rivers do, including irrigation, carrying nutrients, nurturing fish, offering livelihoods for humans and expressing cultural values. In considering this work, this article draws on the views of irrigators, pastoralists, fishers, scientists and Aboriginal people-who might themselves be involved as irrigators, pastoralists or scientists, and certainly as fishers. This article explores the ways in which employment-the work these people might do-has given them particular ways to see the river. For some, their own employment has narrowed the aspects of rivers that they value, leading them to disregard much about the flow of water across the landscape. For others, the mobility or economic marginality of their work has allowed them to see rivers in a far wider context than has been the case for others.
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