No water for the poor: the Roma ethnic minority and local governance in Slovakia

This article contributes to the emerging critiques of inequalities in the access to water by focusing on three inter-related aspects: affordability, accessibility and quality of water. Based on extensive fieldwork, the paper explores the situation in segregated Roma settlements in Slovakia and highlights the critical role of power asymmetries at a local level. It builds a conceptual framework using Bourdieu’s notions of “social field”, “habitus”, “doxa”, and “capital”, highlighting the central role of power asymmetries at a local level. Insights are drawn on how dominantly positioned social actors command decision-making regarding water supply, and how social hierarchies, inequalities and the “positionality” of Roma as a marginalized group are functional to the lack of political will to address insufficient water access for Roma in any efficient manner.