Taking the events of Cape Town’s “Day Zero” drought as a case study, this article examines the politics and poetics of water in the Anthropocene and the implications of Anthropogenic climate change for urban life. It argues that rather than being understood as an inert resource, fresh drinking water is a complex object constructed at the intersection between natural systems; cultural imaginaries; and social, political, and economic interests. The extraordinary events of Day Zero raised the specter of Mad Max–style water wars. They also led to the development of new forms of solidarity, with water acting as a social leveler. The article argues that events in Cape Town open a window onto the future, to the extent that they tell us something about what happens when the added stresses of climate change are mapped onto already-contested social and political situations. They also underline the precarious nature of many of our urban arrangements. This sense of the precarious is likely to extend beyond the case of Cape Town and to be an abiding feature of urban life as we journey deeper into the Anthropocene/Capitalocene.

本文以开普敦的“零日干旱”事件为例，研究了人类世间的水的政治和诗学以及人为的气候变化对城市生活的影响。它认为，新鲜饮用水不是被视为一种惰性资源，而是在自然系统之间的交汇处构造的一个复杂对象。文化假想；以及社会，政治和经济利益。第零天的非凡事件引发了疯狂的麦克斯风格的水战。他们还导致了新形式的团结的发展，用水成为了社会的矫正者。文章认为，开普敦的事件为未来打开了一扇窗户，在一定程度上，他们告诉我们有关将气候变化的额外压力映射到已经争论不休的社会和政治局势时会发生什么的情况。他们还强调了我们许多城市安排的不稳定性质。当我们深入人类世/大新世时，这种sense可危的感觉可能会超出开普敦的范围，并成为城市生活的永恒特征。