Unbottled

"In Unbottled, Daniel Jaffee offers a superbly researched argument that our growing dependence on bottled water is not only creating major environmental crises but also weakening the whole notion of public water services—thereby undermining the human right to water. This book, with its call to support grassroots water justice movements, is a major addition to a growing body of work by those who fight for a water-secure future."—Maude Barlow, water justice activist and author

"Unbottled is a remarkable book, one that both sociologists and students of social movements will find useful and surprisingly enjoyable. After describing an ongoing corporate campaign that has persuaded consumers around the world to rely on water from plastic bottles, Jaffee traces how activists in very different communities have mobilized to protect their water sources, exploring how they framed issues, raised public awareness, and targeted companies and public regulators. Jaffee's book is accessible to undergraduate students as well as scholars, and his insights will help readers understand both the broad structural dynamics shaping our world and the complicated local dynamics that play out in social movement campaigns."—Gay Seidman, Martindale Bascom Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Jaffee has a knack for recognizing the deeper economic, social, and political consequences of the everyday decisions that most of us take for granted. With Unbottled, he asks us to think about whether we really need our water to be branded by multinational corporations. He shows us the environmental cost of plastic water, as well as the societal cost of neglecting—and sometimes privatizing—our public water systems. And, as he always has, Jaffee gives us hope for the future by examining movements that recognize water as a necessity rather than a commodity. This is an essential book for everyone who seeks to reclaim the commons and build a just and equitable society."—John Nichols, The Nation