Personally Speaking: Caitlin Schroering, Ph.D.
“Without Water, We Have Nothing: Water Grabbing and Crises Across The Americas and Beyond”
Caitlin Schroering, Ph.D., discusses some of the global urgencies created by water privatization and other forms of water grabbing by showing how people have come together to fight for control of their water. Using examples such as communities in Pittsburgh, PA and Brazil’s Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB) she explores how activists and movements engage with and learn from each other. Water is at the heart of the book, but it is as much about political economy, collective struggle, and popular organization as it is about water.
Caitlin Schroering, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Global Studies and affiliate faculty in Sociology and Latin American Studies. Global Solidarities Against Water Grabbing: Without Water, We Have Nothing (2024), published by Manchester University Press, is Schroering’s first book. It examines how conflicts over water are human-caused events with socio-political and economic causes and is based on extensive fieldwork with two movements fighting against water privatization. By applying anticolonial and feminist research methods, Shoroering explains the global communications and organizing that are occurring around water and how Global North and Global South efforts are engaging with and learning from each other. She earned a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from the University of Florida. Schroering’s research coalesces around multiple areas of social inquiry, including environmental sociology, resource conflicts, water justice, political economy, and transnational/translocal social movements, using feminist and anticolonial research methodologies. She has spent 20 years as an organizer and activist for community, political, environmental, and labor.
Additional Research
The author welcomes questions and comments about the topic and, although it is not necessary to read anything before the event, we refer you to additional research for more in-depth coverage:
Caitlin Schroering, Global Solidarities Against Water Grabbing: Without Water, We Have Nothing (Manchester University Press, 2024).
Event Facts, Parking and Accessibility
“Without Water, We Have Nothing: Water Grabbing and Crises Across The Americas and Beyond”
Caitlin Schroering, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Global Studies
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Time: 5:15 p.m., with a light reception at 4:15 p.m.
Location: J. Murrey Atkins Library, Halton Room
9201 University City Boulevard, Charlotte, NC 28223
Please note the event is on Wednesday in 2025-2026
Open to the public at no charge
Parking: pats.charlotte.edu; The two closest parking locations are the Cone Deck and the Union Deck adjacent to the Popp Martin Student Union. (Look for arrows on the map.) Please read about the library’s accessibility support and contact chess-events@charlotte.edu if you have an accessibility issue directly related to Personally Speaking.
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Now in its 16th Season, the Personally Speaking published-expert series highlights the recent research findings of our talented faculty. Presenters have each been selected by a committee of their peers to represent a sampling of the broad interdisciplinary work being conducted within the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences. Presenters also have a knack for sharing their personal inspirations in a way that thoroughly engages their audiences—who are invited to reciprocate after the presentation. In this way, the College aims to build new connections between our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and members of the Charlotte community. The series is a partnership of the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences with J. Murrey Atkins Library. Presentations may be recorded, but are usually not livestreamed.
