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Master's thesis on the interrelationality between water and humans has been defended

Paula Lūcija Lejiņa stands beside the lectern in a classroom while Anne Sauka addresses the audience. A projection screen is visible in the background, with desks, laptops, and workshop materials in the foreground.
Paula Lūcija Lejiņa stands beside the lectern in a classroom while Anne Sauka addresses the audience. A projection screen is visible in the background, with desks, laptops, and workshop materials in the foreground.
Paula Lūcija Lejiņa speaks from the lectern in a classroom. A projection screen is visible behind her, while audience members, desks, and laptops in the foreground create the atmosphere of an academic session.

In June 2026, a master’s thesis was defended in the Philosophy program at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia; the thesis explored the materiality of water, situated embodiment, and various forms of water-based coexistence in the context of environmental philosophy.

Paula Lūcija Lejiņa
“Disorderly waters: coexistence forms in relation to the other”
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Anne Sauka

This master's thesis traces forms of human-water coexistence and develops a genealogical analysis of water materiality, based on new materialism process philosophy, following Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. Modernities dominant control strategies are contrasted with the genealogies of situated and posthuman embodiment, showing water as a dynamic agent in meaning creation. The aim of the thesis is to substantiate a need for alternative forms of human-water coexistence and to present ways of existence that emphasize the complexity of interactions with different waters. This is achieved by problematizing the notions of the alterity of orderly (right) and disorderly (wrong) materiality and by presenting a meaningful and dynamic watery involvement alongside the notion of assemblage in worlding processes.
This work contributes to the discussion on environmental humanities in Latvia, which has become increasingly relevant in recent years, and will serve as a significant addition to the project’s future research.
 

Full text of the master's theses in latvian are available here

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