«Water and sanitation services must be publicly-owned and publicly-managed if we are to expand and maintain them in the public interest. This requires a two-pronged approach. The first is fighting against privatization and commercialization. The second is working towards pro-public models of water and sanitation that are democratic, accountable and sustainable.»
David McDonald is Professor of Global Development Studies at Queen’s University, Canada, and Director of the Municipal Services Project, a global research network that explores progressive forms of public services with a focus on equity, sustainability and democratic engagement.
Selected Publications
Full publication list is available on Google Scholar.
T Marois, DA McDonald and S Spronk (eds). 2025. Public Banks and Public Water in the Global South. Routledge: New York
T Marois and DA McDonald (eds). 2023. Public Banks, Public Water: Exploring the Links in Europe. Routledge: New York
DA McDonald. 2023. Meanings of Public and the Future of Public Services. Routledge: New York
DA McDonald, S Spronk and D Chavez (eds). 2020. Public Water and Covid-19: Dark Clouds and Silver Linings, Transnational Institute (Amsterdam) and Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO) (Buenos Aires)
DA McDonald, T Marois and D Barrowclough (eds). 2020. Public Banks and Covid-19: Combatting the Pandemic With Public Finance. Municipal Service Project (Kingston), UNCTAD (Geneva) and Eurodad (Brussels)
DA McDonald (ed) (2016). Making Public in a Privatized World: The Struggle for Essential Services, Zed Books, London
DA McDonald (ed). 2014. Rethinking Corporatization and Public Utilities in the Global South, Zed Books, London
DA McDonald and G Ruiters (eds). 2012. Alternatives to Privatization: Public Options for Essential Services in the Global South, Routledge, New York
M Pigeon, DA McDonald, O Hoedeman and S Kishimoto (eds), 2012. Remunicipalisation: Putting Water Back Into Public Hands, TNI: Amsterdam
DA McDonald (ed). 2009. Electric Capitalism: Recolonizing Africa on the Power Grid, HSRC Press: Cape Town, Earthscan, London.
DA McDonald (2008). World City Syndrome: Neoliberalism and Inequality in Cape Town. Routledge: New York, 355 pp
DA McDonald and GR Ruiters (eds). 2005. The Age of Commodity: Water Privatization in Southern Africa. Earthscan Press: London, 304 pp.
DA McDonald and J Pape (eds). 2002. Cost Recovery and the Crisis of Service Delivery in South Africa. Zed Press: London and HSRC Publishers: Pretoria, 207 pp.
DA McDonald (ed) Environmental Justice in South Africa. 2002. Ohio University Press: Athens and University of Cape Town Press, 341 pp.