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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATIONImage: C. BreletBroken modern pipes create a health hazard for local populationsAnthropology is unique among social and human sciences becauseits transdisciplinary, systemic and cybernetic approach does notonly include history, oral literature and linguistics. It also embracesall the components and processes of social life – the physical environment,systems of production, technological knowledge and tools,family patterns, the political system, religious customs and symbols,and artistic activities. And it highlights the interconnectedness andinteractions of the multiple aspects of culture. Hence anthropologyoffers a unified framework, both theoretical and practical, based onthe premise that biological needs and material constraints, such asthe environment and technology, are primary forces in the evolutionof sociocultural systems. Focusing on the interaction betweenthe biological and cultural environments of a community canhelp to reduce many social problems and impacts when a systemand/or technology of water distribution has to be transformed orreplaced by more effective ones. This is especially important whennew management, laws and economic regulations would inevitablyimpact a community’s social organization, affect sensitive issuessuch as social inequality, sexism and gender equity, exploitation,poverty and underdevelopment, and generate new patterns ofdomestic organization and even new political institutions.Anthropologists collect and organize cultural data in relation torecurrent aspects or parts of local sociocultural systems in orderto compare a local culture with the ‘modern’ one.Distinguishing between local views and interpretationand those of the water professionals is not only useful inensuring that an international water cooperation projectwill be locally appropriate; it can also avoid ethnocentrism,a common human tendency generally leading tothe conclusion that traditional cultures are inferior tothe ‘modern’ one. For example, an ethnocentric attitudewould condemn as counterproductive the Hindutaboo against cattle slaughter whereas it has positiveeffects on agricultural productivity in India. In thesame manner, understanding the family structure, thedomestic division of labour and education, roles relatedto age and gender and domestic hierarchies, helps tobuild an understanding of how basic production andconsumption within a community – all activities thatwould not be possible without water – are organized.Because domestic economy relies on water, all thesefactors have a serious impact on the ways that waterresources are allocated and used.The observation of living reality greatly contributes toimproving a water and sanitation project. To this effectand at the request of Professor Szollozi-Nagy, then[ 253 ]