Political Ecology in South Asia

Catalog description

This course focuses on the complex issues of intra-(human)-species and interspecies inequality, the history of uneven development as well as ecological vulnerability of diverse South Asian societies, and the resulting environmental movements that intersect concerns for environment with that of social justice. First we explore the underlying theoretical premise of how environments can be understood as both 'natural' and ‘social’, and variations over time and space. Is there one Nature or multiple natures? Is Nature even natural? Is there something distinct about the ecology, political ecology, or the history of environmental movements in South Asia? Are the environmental justice movements emerging from the global south able to capture the intricate relationship that many indigenous people in South Asia have with their environment? And how do such movements respond to ecological challenges that are a result of activities of global magnitude?