The 9 volumes A History of Water-series was initiated by Tvedt in 2001 and has over the years led to three series with three volumes in each series. The first series was published in 2006 and the last in 2016. It gives a long-term historical and comparative perspective to the understanding of the complex relationship between water and society. The volumes in the series aim to show how analyses of history and societies’ development – from the birth of civilization to the present day – will be enriched and broadened by also bringing the myriad confluences between water and society into the picture.
Each of the volumes in The Series have introductions written by Tvedt and his co-editors and contain chapters written by around 230 scholars from a very wide range of disciplines and from around 80 countries. The Series presents a unique overview of water issues in time and space. It demonstrates that a focus on water-society relations opens up a wealth of new empirical areas and makes it possible to put forward new and inclusive explanations of important historical processes and events, and suggest new theories of social development.
For an overview of all the chapters and contributors, see A History of Water. The introductions to the volumes can be found in full-text below.
Series 1
Vol. 1: Water Control and River Biographies
Tvedt, Terje, and Eva Jakobsson (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2006
Introduction: Water History is World History (Tvedt & Jakobsson)
Vol. 2: The Political Economy of Water
Coopey, Richard and Terje Tvedt (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2006
Introduction: Water as a Unique Commodity (Coopey & Tvedt)
Vol. 3: The World of Water
Tvedt, Terje, and Terje Oestigaard (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2006
Introduction (Tvedt & Oestigaard)
Series 2
Vol. 1: Ideas of Water. From Ancient Societies to the Modern World.
Tvedt, Terje and Terje Ostigard (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2010.
History of the Ideas of Water: Deconstructing Nature and Constructing Society (Tvedt & Oestigaard).
Vol. 2: River and Society. From the Birth of Agriculture to Modern Times.
Tvedt, Terje, and Richard Coopey (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2010.
A ‘Water Systems’ Perspective on History (Tvedt & Coopey)
Vol. 3: Water and Geopolitics in the New World Order
Tvedt, Terje, Graham Chapman & Roar Hagen (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2011.
Water, Geopolitics and Collective Power in the New World Order (Hagen, Chapman & Tvedt).
Series 3
Vol. 1: Water and Urbanization
Tvedt, Terje, and Terje Oestigaard (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2014.
Urban Water Systems – A Coceptual Framework (Tvedt & Terje Oestigaard).
Vol. 2: Sovereignity & Development of International Water Law
Tvedt, Terje, Owen McIntyre and Tadesse Kassa Woldetsadik (eds). I.B. Tauris, 2015.
Sovereignty, the Web of Water and the Myth of Westphalia (Tvedt, McIntyre & Kassa Woldetsadik)
Vol. 3: Water and Food. From hunter-gatherers to global production in Africa
Tvedt, Terje, and Terje Oestigaard (eds.) I.B. Tauris, 2016.
Approaches to African Food Production in a Water Society Systems Perspective (Tvedt & Oestigaard).