Gary J. Brierley - Finding the Voice of the River: Beyond Restoration and Management

This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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With societal relations to rivers at its core, this book expresses a river-centric view of the worlda plea to live with rivers, and with each other, in compassionate and respectful ways.

Contemporary times are characterized by profound unease, unrest and disquiet, troubled by the extent and pace of change on the one hand, and the ineptitude of political institutions and governance arrangements that purportedly act in the interests of society on the other. Despite incredible potential, equitable practices that serve the greater good have been pushed aside.

Across much of the planet, rivers have been marginalized from the lives of much of human societythey have been othered. Physical and psychological separation accentuates disconnection, unconsciously furthering neglect. Whether piped and built over in urban areas, channelized and canalized to suppress their voice, or treated with disdain as gutters, drains and sewers, day to day relations with many contemporary watercourses limit positive experiences to our imagination. More frequently, connections to riverscapes reflect idealized natures expressed within the realms of virtual reality, gaming worlds or theme parks.

Despite their fundamental importance to human society, rivers have been treated with such disdain that they are now in a perilous state. In these crazy times of denial and doubt that shape The Great Derangement (Ghosh 2016), efforts to improve river health start by acknowledging that human endeavours created these problems, recognizing that it is our responsibility to address them. Two very different approaches to river repair are available, framed here as Medean (competitive) and Gaian (cooperative) options. Rather than managing rivers to achieve particular anthropogenic goals, this book outlines a more-than-human approach to living with living rivers, conceptualizing rivers as sentient entities that are allowed to express their own voice. Adoption of a duty of care conceptualizes the river as a living entityan indivisible whole, from the mountains to the seaminimizing harm and embracing measures to improve its health, respecting the rights of the river itself.

As environmental conditions deteriorate, populations grow and locked-in path dependencies become harder to revoke, choices for prospective futures become increasingly more limited, constraining prospects for future generations. The warning signs are clear. Rather than sleepwalking into oblivion, we know the consequences of our actions, despite significant frustration at the ineptitude of societal and institutional responses.

This book is written for a generalist audience. It is a Geography book, written by a Physical Geographer. Being disruptive and working across boundaries are liberating traits of geographic enquiry. Although the book has an environmental focus, it is framed as an argument in popular philosophy, contemplating the agency of rivers as sentient entitiesplace-beings. It relates situated place-based knowledges (concerns for a given river) to global considerations (concerns for all rivers).

Deliberations are assuredly upbeat and aspirational, applying a strategy of hope that envisages the glass as half-full rather than half-empty, reflecting that it pays to dream, engaging with the world as it could be.

The book has a linear structure, and is intended to be read from front to back rather than dropping in and out of chapters (though boxes present occasional digressions, as examples, personal anecdotes or river stories). Chapter applies a river health metaphor and an analogy with medical practice to present a rallying call to look after rivers in more respectful ways through place-based approaches to river repair (finding and enacting the voice of the river).