Resumo

MEISSNER, Richard. Paradigms and theories in water governance: The case of South Africa's National Water Resource Strategy, Second Edition. Water SA [online]. 2016, vol.42, n.1, pp.1-10. ISSN 1816-7950.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v42i1.01.

This paper indicates the influence of paradigms and theories on the development of South Africa's National Water Resource Strategy, Second Edition. Five paradigms exist: positivism, postpositivism, interpretivism/constructivism, critical theories and the participatory paradigm. I use the PULSE³ framework for analysis that I developed to analyse the NWRS2. I found that positivism is the dominant paradigm influencing the NWRS2. I furthermore analyse the strategy through two alternative theories: agential power and the ambiguity theory of leadership. These theories are interpretivist/constructivist type theories. My argument is for the integration of paradigms through the utilisation of analytic eclecticism. In light of positivism's dominance, I conclude that water research can be more innovative through the integration of paradigms and alternative theories.

Palavras-chave : water governance; paradigm; theory; policy; leadership theory; power.

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