Human-water resources interface in agriculture sector of Iran: A historical-theoretical understanding

Human-water resources interface is a fundamental core to form the socio-economic structures and conceptual understanding of its evolution is important to investigate the causes of current challenges of water resources. Therefore, identifying and analyzing the human-water resources interface in agriculture sector of Iran by using a theoretical-historical approach was the purpose of this research. Also a descriptive-analytical method was employed to perform and write this paper. This study attempted to combine different theories such as “Asiatic Mode of Production (AMP)”, “social institutions”, “social changes (Ibn Khaldun theory and Marx theory)” in order to represent the formulation and evolution of human-water resources interface. In addition, the secondary data and literature were applied to describe the water resources change over time. Due to limitation of water resources, the Asiatic Mode of Production (autocratic central government and group work organization) was formulated and its major institutional features (despotism, ethnicity, and patriarchy) were reproduced in a repeatable cycle during the history. Human-water resources interface has been changed by two mutation steps (i.e. the constitutional movement and the land reform), and it was trying to transition from the traditional institutions (despotism, ethnicity, and patriarchy) to modern institutions (rights-based legislation and law-based administration). But it is seen that coexistence (sometimes peaceful coexistence and sometimes violent coexistence) was found between the traditional and modern institutions. Also, due to attempts to institutionalize and rearrange of human-water resources interface mechanisms an organized chaos has established that it has been considered as the major reason of water crisis in Iran.