Water, a vital element of the planet, has socio-cultural value that is now recognised by both humanities and hard sciences, and aquatic landscapes are fluid meeting places of nature and culture, result of processes and interactions between living beings. Collective domains, primary legal organisations, have existed in Italy since before the State and manage territories that also include water in its various forms. The communities, custodians of the resource, guarantee its rational and sustainable use, opposing the capitalist exploitation of this asset. These spaces are influenced by and in turn influence local dynamics that have repercussions on a global scale. This article presents the case study of an Italian Alpine collective domain that is fighting alone through legal channels to regain custody of its resource, which for decades has been the subject of speculation and revenues that are not invested in the territory but taken elsewhere: those who use and do not own impoverish the living environment both by subtracting assets and by disrupting the social fabric.

collective domaincollective actionterritories of lifeAlpine hydroelectricity