This joint research project aims to explore the hydrosocial cycle of the lower course of the River Ganges , elucidating how the River (and the River getting transformed into different waters: canals, wetlands, etc. through hydraulic manipulations) and society shape and reshape each other over space and time. By focusing on the history of paradigm shifts, the development of water management discourses and knowledge, and social activism relative to the waterscape, the project aims to provide outputs useful to framing current Indian water management policies and also to advance the hydrosocial cycle theoretical framework in a Third World context. The study will combine archival and ethnographic techniques. The Indo-Swiss Scholars Exchange Grant will enable sharing of expertise between the two complementary teams (see Partnership aspects), make possible fieldwork that capitalizes on existing research on this waterscape by IDSK, facilitate the publication of a joint research output, and set the stage for future collaborations.