Introduction
Part I: A Symbol and a Source of Fascination for Artists and Scientists
1. Unparalleled Symbolism
Water, the driving force of Nature
Cosmologonies and religions
A symbolically charged element
An object of fascination for artists, poets and writers
The global water cycle and the biosphere: a strong link
Water, cities and architecture

2. Science and Water: Research Continues
A banal substance?
Recent scientific findings

Part II: Water as a Political Issue
3. The Problem of Distribution and Management
A highly uneven distribution
Precious traditional techniques

4. Geostrategy, Power and Struggles
Power Games
The Water Weapon

5. Water and Conflicts
Hydropolitics
Internal wars
Water and the Israeli-Arab conflict

6. A Painful Issue in Algeria
Resource pressure
The ambiguity of water
An emblematic case
Algeria is not the only case

7. A Water Crisis?
Scarcity or mismanagement?
A man-made crisis?

8. A Common Good Coveted by the Market
Water privatization in Britain
Water privatization has worsened the situation in the South
When politics gets mixed up in it
Privatization imposed on the South
Privatized water is more expensive
Is the state powerless?
The social treatment of water

Part III: The Public Health Problem
9. Water and Health
Water-related illnesses: like 300 Boeings crashing every day
A giant step: the chlorination of water
Bottled water: what a godsend for business!
The ravages of publicity
A lifestyle in question

10. Pollution in Many Different Forms
Resource competition
The 'save water' watchword
Industrial pollution
Unsustainable development

Part IV: Issues of Ethics, Solidarity and Development
11. The Question of Dams
Leader's pride and white elephants
Dams arouse people's passions

12. Water and Development Ethics
13. Reasons for Hope?
Further Reading
Index