This thesis examines women’s participation in community-managed water systems in peri-urban Cochabamba, Bolivia based on fieldwork conducted from June-August 2013. Informed by a Feminist political ecology framework, this thesis demonstrates that there are key gendered differences in experiences with water because women are the primary managers of water in the home, and their labour, time and livelihoods are significantly impacted by the lack of safe water. By unearthing women’s experiences and opinions from a number of water committees, networked systems of water should be considered part of a ‘feminist agenda’ as having access to networked water systems decreases women’s physical workloads and the costs of household water. However, while networked water systems are not perfect from a gendered perspective as male community members hold most of the decision-making positions, alliances with progressive NGOs play an important role within Cochabamba’s waterscape as they promote a politics of equity and encourage women to see themselves as vocal subjects, able to define and defend their gender interests.

This bachelor's thesis has been conducted based on an interest in the women's empowerment processes taking place in India after the 2012 Delhi gang rape,  and after the suicide of Amina Filali in Morocco in 2012. The goal of the study is to analyze whether there are similarities in the way the processes unfold, based on Hans Abrahamsson's (2003) work on structural change, and to analyze how far the processes of change have advanced. In order to do so, a qualitative, abductive study of each country was conducted and later compared through the framework of Abrahamsson's three key concepts in order to analyze similarities and differences.   Based on secondary- and tertiary sources from both academia and media, the thesis attempts to create a holistic picture of the developments by discussing opinions accessible both to the broader public and scholarly community.   The thesis suggests that neither India nor Morocco show signs of permanent strategic gender changes, or structural change, but are instead situated in the problem-solving phase of the model. Neither country can be seen as having experienced strategic gender changes, as they have failed to satisfy strategic gender interests. India appears further along in its process, as the government has been forced to take larger problem-solving measures in order to stifle the protests. Morocco on the other hand, has survived on the promise of change alone. Recently, both countries have experienced a second tragedy similar to their first, the results of which remain to be seen. In the light of past developments, this thesis predicts future strategic gender changes are more likely in India than Morocco, albeit problematic in both.

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