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About the Book : - Based on research conducted over two decades, this accessible and deeply felt book provides a provocative comparative history of environmentalism in two large ecologically and culturally diverse democracies India and the United States. Ramachandra Guha takes as his point of departure the dominant environmental philosophies in these two countries identified as agrarianism in India and wilderness thinking in the United States. Proposing an inclusive social ecology framework that goes beyond these partisan ideologies, Guha arrives at a richer understanding of controversies over large dams, state forests, wildlife reserves, and more. He offers trenchant critiques of privileged and isolationist proponents of conservation, persuasively arguing for biospheres that care as much for humans as for other species. He also provides profiles of three remarkable environmental thinkers and activists Lewis Mumford, Chandi Prasad Bhatt, and Madhav Gadgil. Finally, the author asks the fundamental environmental question how much should a person or country consume? and explores a range of answers. About the Author : - Ramachandra Guha has taught at Stanford and Yale universities. He has been a Sundaraja Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Science, and Indo-American Community Chair Visiting Professor at the University of California at Berkeley. A pioneer in the field of environmental history, he is the author of The Unquiet Woods (University of California Press), among other books. His work on modern Indian history, India after Gandhi (Ecco) has been critically acclaimed. His essays have been widely anthologized and translated. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009.

In order to move global society towards a sustainable “ecotopia,” solutions must be engaged in specific places and communities, and the authors here argue for re-orienting environmental anthropology from a problem-oriented towards a solutions-focused endeavor. Using case studies from around the world, the contributors—scholar-activists and activist-practitioners— examine the interrelationships between three prominent environmental social movements: bioregionalism, a worldview and political ecology that grounds environmental action and experience; permaculture, a design science for putting the bioregional vision into action; and ecovillages, the ever-dynamic settings for creating sustainable local cultures.

This book comparatively analyses the federal policies and financing of India and Canada. It examines whether federalism as a system of governance is better suited to deal with environmental questions. It operates from the assumption that federalism can provide an effective solution to the emerging concerns of the environment because it essentially provides a model of disaggregated governance without any extensive and intrusive mark of hierarchy. It presents a uniquely exploration of environmental governance from this hitherto under-researched perspective, and simultaneously, in order to provide a better conceptual understanding, examines the different theories of federalism and modes of distribution of powers, authorities and functions. Given their symmetrical federal experiences, India and Canada naturally qualify as the domain of study, with both being known as twin federal nations. Issues of environment have been factorised and classified according to their critical significance in terms of policy choices. The combinatorial structure has been evaluated in terms of better federal management of environment. In the process, many new dimensions of federalism and environment have emerged, which may contribute to the critical mass of knowledge on the subject. This book makes a departure from the general mono-construction of the environment as a restricted unit of knowledge available only to a specialist. Broadly following an interdisciplinary logic of formation of idea, this study is highly relevant in generating a new perspective on environmental research. It defines environment as a system which requires careful redrafting and reworking of three structures of relationships, namely between man and environment, between resource community and the state, and between inter-governmental contestations.

This book looks into the developmental policies that have been followed in India since independence and their impact on both the environment and human rights. It also explores some of the major theoretical discourses, and debates these topics and the responses large-scale developmental projects in India have elicited from marginalized sections of society. The book presents a synoptic view of how sustainable development in India may be attained, focusing on three controversial Indian developmental projects, namely the Narmada River Valley project, bauxite mining by Vedanta Resources in Orissa and Kudankulam nuclear power plant, taking these cases as representative of large-scale developmental projects laid out in India.

This volume unravels the underlying power relations that are masked in the present discourse of ecological sustainability and conflicts over natural resources. Current discussions on environment emphasise the use and abuse of the environment in various ways. This book looks at the inter-linkages of discourse, resources, risk and resistance in the contemporary neoliberal world. While exploring the experiences of neoliberalisation of nature in India, it brings out the intersections of conservation and management, science and gender, community politics and governance policies. The volume highlights the cultural politics of resistance from multiple sites and regions in India in the recent context (be it land, water, forest, flora or fauna or urban commons). It discusses the ways in which environmental issues have come up and been appropriated, while examining the role of the State and actors such as corporates, traders, consultants, ecotourism companies, green activists and consumers, and consequences of ‘green’ appropriation and the ‘growth’ story. The major themes of the volume are the interrelations of nature, culture and power; neoliberal governance and the environment; access to and use and management of land, natural resources and environment; community politics and livelihoods; marginalised groups and local communities; marketisation and the environment; and new forms of re-appropriation and resistance. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers in sociology, environmental studies, environmental history, environmental anthropology, political ecology, political science, geography, law and human rights, economics and development studies as well as to environmental activists, policy makers and those in media and journalism.

This book captures the complexities of both development and environment, from the political economy point of view, to offer a broad economic and environmental history of post-independence India. It analyses the various components of constitutional provisions, policies, programmes and ecology protection measures during the post-independence period, that is, 1947–2020. The author also investigates India’s land and forest policies of the 21st century: Fair Compensation of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013 and the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006, which pose a great threat to ecology and the environment. The volume argues how, on one hand, the development agenda has undermined the environmental components for the first three decades of independence and, on the other hand, how the popular vote bank politics further has aggravated the issues related to environment in India. This book is an essential interdisciplinary resource for scholars and researchers of history, economic history, environmental studies, environmental history, Indian history and development studies.