Dr Marianna Dudley (Bristol)
Abstract
This paper explores the emergence of conflict between recreational users of British rivers in the twentieth century, and subsequent campaigns for universal public rights of navigation on inland waterways. Citizen-led organizing has, it argues, re-conceptualized river spaces in ways that reflect a modern engagement with, and understanding of, water through recreation. The paper draws on notions of legal geographies, ‘modern’ waters, and hydrocommons to suggest that recreational use - and conflict - is challenging how we use, govern, and conceptualize river water.
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