Public Right or Economic Commodity? The Evolution of Water Policy in Jordan and Morocco

الملخص

This study argues that water management policies in Jordan and Morocco have never been neutral. Rather, since independence, they have functioned as strategic instruments, leveraged to impose territorial control and reinforce political authority. Using a comparative analytical approach, the study traces the evolution of dam policies, privatization choices, and the role of international financial institutions in governing this vital resource. It finds that neoliberal approaches to water governance have commodified water, transforming it from a public right into an economic commodity, and in doing so have generated deep social and spatial inequalities alongside heightened water vulnerability. The study further underscores the limited capacity of privatization to deliver susta inable development and spatial justice.