Entangled public intellectuals: women, water, and the reimagining of the public sphere

This paper explores how documentary film can reimagine the public sphere by foregrounding human–nature entanglements and expanding who counts as public intellectuals. Through feminist media analysis, I examine Secas: Defensoras de las Aguas (Dry: Women Water Defenders), a trilogy addressing Chile's water crisis from the perspectives of women water protectors. Released during the drafting of Chile's new Constitution, the films center water–women relationships as vital to ecological and political life. Challenging conventional ideas of human togetherness in the public sphere, I argue that women and water emerge as entangled public intellectuals, exposing the historical and political roots of water scarcity. Their embodied knowledge positions human–water relations as central to political debate and the defence of life amid the climate crisis. This work contributes to public pedagogy scholarship by expanding the public sphere beyond the human toward more ecologically attuned ways of living together.