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Bolognesi, Thomas; Bréthaut, Christian --- "An institutionalist perspective on the use of international water law: crafting institutions in a multi-level setting" [2018] ELECD 1251; in Tignino, Mara; Bréthaut, Christian (eds), "Research Handbook on Freshwater Law and International Relations" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 413

Book Title: Research Handbook on Freshwater Law and International Relations

Editor(s): Tignino, Mara; Bréthaut, Christian

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781785360640

Section: Chapter 17

Section Title: An institutionalist perspective on the use of international water law: crafting institutions in a multi-level setting

Author(s): Bolognesi, Thomas; Bréthaut, Christian

Number of pages: 21

Abstract/Description:

This contribution focuses on the discrepancies between general frameworks defined at the international level and the need for the implementation of context-specific arrangements to solve water management challenges at the transboundary level. Relying on an institutionalist perspective and on a qualitative methodology, we analyse how international law is implemented and instrumentalized. We ask the following research questions: How is international water law materialized at the local level? How do stakeholders mobilize a legal framework in order to solve collective action problems at the transboundary level? How do institutions evolve, and how are they continuously crafted, in order to define a tailor-made and context-specific arrangement? We theoretically show how international water law can benefit from insights from institutional economics. Analysing a case of sediment flushing conduced in Switzerland with transboundary impacts, we illustrate how actors craft international water law in a multi-level setting.