Applying Bourdieu’s Theory to Public Perceptions of Water Scarcity during El Niño: A Case Study of Santa Marta, Colombia

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The "introduction" chapter focuses too much on the application of Bourdieu's Theory. It does not take into account the issue of risk management at all, with an emphasis on risk perception and risk communication. If theoretical starting points from these fields were applied, parameters other than gender and habitus would also be taken into account in the research. In what way, for example, does education affect the results, because this is one of the important factors in the perception of risk. In chapter 2, I lack a definition of the current measures that are used in the locality for water management. (It is not stated what the authorities are doing, e.g. interrupting water supplies.) This subsequently causes conclusions to be made in chapter 4 Results and 5 Discussion that are unfounded, based only on unverifiable opinions, unrelated to practice. Lines 312 -314 contain unsubstantiated claims "the unclear and opaque dissemination of information". Social cohesion is discussed (line 331) but not addressed in the research. It is not clear from which results this follows. Similarly, the issue of Community organization and collaborative networks (line 334) was not addressed in chapter 4. I recommend reworking the discussion chapter so that it does not contain new knowledge, but only an evaluation and comparison with other research or specific proposals for measures to solve the situation.

From a methodological point of view, I object to the use of 9999 permutations. Why were so many used? How did these results show up in the presented images? It is not clear to me why the permutations needed to be made in the presented images. The total number of questions in the questionnaire is not indicated, or only the questions presented in chapter 3 (line 181 – 190) were used. Give the questionnaire as an attachment to the article.

The conclusion states that it is necessary to reform activities. This is perhaps based only on the answers of citizens. Without an objective demonstration of the set system and subsequent comparison with the results of the investigation, it is impossible to prove it. What if, for example, communication about risk is carried out inefficiently? Likewise, the quality of the water management infrastructure was not discussed in chapter 1 or 2, and in the end conclusions are made that do not reflect the research.

The article does not have a clearly stated goal or established hypotheses, which would subsequently be answered.

The Discussion chapter should be numbered 5, not 4 (line 321).

Author Response

Comments 1: The "introduction" chapter focuses too much on the application of Bourdieu's Theory. It does not take into account the issue of risk management at all, with an emphasis on risk perception and risk communication. If theoretical starting points from these fields were applied, parameters other than gender and habitus would also be taken into account in the research. In what way, for example, does education affect the results, because this is one of the important factors in the perception of risk. In chapter 2, I lack a definition of the current measures that are used in the locality for water management. (It is not stated what the authorities are doing, e.g. interrupting water supplies.) This subsequently causes conclusions to be made in chapter 4 Results and 5 Discussion that are unfounded, based only on unverifiable opinions, unrelated to practice. Lines 312 -314 contain unsubstantiated claims "the unclear and opaque dissemination of information". Social cohesion is discussed (line 331) but not addressed in the research. It is not clear from which results this follows. Similarly, the issue of Community organization and collaborative networks (line 334) was not addressed in chapter 4. I recommend reworking the discussion chapter so that it does not contain new knowledge, but only an evaluation and comparison with other research or specific proposals for measures to solve the situation.

Response:  Thank you for your insightful comment. The primary objective of this study is to analyze community perceptions about water scarcity during the El Niño-induced drought period in Colombia, applying Bourdieu's Theory. For this reason, the introduction focuses primarily on the application of Bourdieu's framework, particularly his concepts of habitus and capital. Given the study's focus on social dynamics and perceptions through this lens, the topic of risk management and its related fields, such as risk perception and communication, was not explored in depth. However, we acknowledge the importance of these aspects and will consider integrating them in future research.

We have added a bibliographic review of water management in Colombia in Chapter 2 to provide a clearer context of the current management at a national level. Additionally, in Chapter 1, we have included a detailed explanation of the specific measures currently being implemented in the locality, such as water supply interruptions and other actions taken by authorities to manage water resources.

Upon reviewing the claim regarding the "unclear and opaque dissemination of information," we agree that this statement was not sufficiently supported by the data presented. As such, we have revised the paragraph to remove any unsubstantiated claims. The revised text now focuses solely on the neutral responses provided by the survey participants, which indicate a lack of strong opinions regarding the communication from authorities. We have also reframed the discussion to highlight that this neutrality points to potential areas for improvement in how information is shared with the public, without making unsupported assumptions.

We restructured the discussion chapter to ensure that all claims are directly supported by the data. The revised chapter now focuses on evaluating the results in relation to the research questions and support with existing studies, avoiding any unsubstantiated statements. This adjustment ensures a more rigorous analysis and aligns the discussion with the evidence presented in the results.

 

Comments 2: From a methodological point of view, I object to the use of 9999 permutations. Why were so many used? How did these results show up in the presented images? It is not clear to me why the permutations needed to be made in the presented images. The total number of questions in the questionnaire is not indicated, or only the questions presented in chapter 3 (line 181 – 190) were used. Give the questionnaire as an attachment to the article.

Response:  Thank you for your valuable comments. Regarding the use of 9999 permutations, we have clarified in the methodology section the rationale for using this number of permutations. This approach is commonly employed in perception studies to ensure robustness in statistical analysis, particularly in non-parametric tests. We have also added citations from relevant studies that utilized 9999 permutations, further supporting the validity of this method. In addition, we have provided a detailed explanation of how the questionnaire is structured in the revised manuscript, specifying the sections and the type of questions asked. The full questionnaire will also be included as supplementary material, allowing readers to review it in detail.

Comments 3: The conclusion states that it is necessary to reform activities. This is perhaps based only on the answers of citizens. Without an objective demonstration of the set system and subsequent comparison with the results of the investigation, it is impossible to prove it. What if, for example, communication about risk is carried out inefficiently? Likewise, the quality of the water management infrastructure was not discussed in chapter 1 or 2, and in the end conclusions are made that do not reflect the research.

Response:  Thank you for your valuable feedback. Based on your suggestion, we have revised the conclusion to better reflect the results of the study. We have removed the previous conclusion about reforming activities and instead focused on improving communication strategies, which align more closely with the study’s findings. This revision is also supported by global and local studies.

Comments 4: The article does not have a clearly stated goal or established hypotheses, which would subsequently be answered.

Response:  Thank you for your valuable comment. The main objective of the article is to analyze community perceptions about water scarcity during the El Niño-induced drought period in Colombia, applying Bourdieu's Theory. We have incorporated this objective into the revised version. In addition, the study is guided by the hypothesis that the perception of water scarcity is influenced by the habitus of water management stakeholders, based on Bourdieu's theory. We have incorporated this hypothesis into the revised version.

Comments 5: The Discussion chapter should be numbered 5, not 4 (line 321).

Response:  Thank you for pointing out the numbering issue in the Discussion chapter. We have corrected the numbering, and the Discussion chapter is now numbered as 5, as suggested.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Review Report:

1. Every Urban area are more informed about actions/events like climate change impacts or net zero initiatives as they are technologically more equipped as compared to rural areas. What’s the new angle with respect to El Niño phenomenon, and communities awareness? 

2. I would insist authors to add a paragraph in the conclusion section featuring how the capacity of rural areas could be enhanced (like more capacity building workshops/trainings/ recognition to those who follows sustainable water management) with accurate citation to boost readability of the manuscript.

3. I appreciate authors for bringing the limitation of habitus and data collection biases.

 

 

Author Response

Comments 1: Every Urban area are more informed about actions/events like climate change impacts or net zero initiatives as they are technologically more equipped as compared to rural areas. What’s the new angle with respect to El Niño phenomenon, and communities awareness? 

Response: Thank you for your valuable suggestion. We agree.  We have expanded the discussion to highlight the novel insights provided by our study regarding the El Niño phenomenon and community awareness.

Comments 2: I would insist authors to add a paragraph in the conclusion section featuring how the capacity of rural areas could be enhanced (like more capacity building workshops/trainings/ recognition to those who follows sustainable water management) with accurate citation to boost readability of the manuscript.

Response: Thank you for your valuable suggestion. We agree that including a conclusion on capacity-building initiatives, such as workshops, training, and recognition of rural knowledge, would further enrich the conclusion and provide practical implications. we added a paragraph in the conclusion section highlighting the potential for capacity building in rural areas.

Comments 3: I appreciate authors for bringing the limitation of habitus and data collection biases.

Response: Thank you for acknowledging our discussion on the limitations of habitus and potential biases in data collection. We recognize that these factors can influence both the interpretation of social dynamics within the field and the reliability of the data.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is a strong article that uses pertinent data and sound methodology to argue that water scarcity is more perceived in urban areas than in rural ones that in fact experience equivalent conditions, because Bourdieuvian categories of cultural capital and habitus make the water seem more scarce in the cities than it does in the countryside of Colombia, merely because the evident faults of the infrastructure make it appear more that way.  While not 'fictions' the different reactions to equivalent conditions are 'constructs' because the resourcefulness and local knowledge of people in the country actually make them better able to cope with the conditions than their urban compeers. This is striking because, in most discussions of cultural capital, city dwellers are often seen as savvier and able to deploy arcane codes of knowledge and tacit assumptions to lord it over their rural counterparts. Here, though, we see it is the country bumpkins who can cope better with dire circumstances because they frame the availability of resources in a different way.  What we' might assume' is productively upended. 

Author Response

We greatly appreciate your insightful comments on the article. We are pleased to hear that you found our methodology and data robust and that the analysis, based on Bourdieu's categories of cultural capital and habitus, was useful in highlighting how perceptions of water scarcity differ between urban and rural areas in Colombia.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Measures in the field of water management could have been described more specifically. Other comments were respected and partially incorporated.