Caste and nature: Dalits and Indian Environmental PoliciesRarely do Indian environmental discourses examine nature through the lens of caste. Whereas nature is considered as universal and inherent, caste is understood as a constructed historical and social entity. Mukul Sharma shows how caste and nature are intimately connected. He compares Dalit meanings of environment to ideas and practices of neo-Brahmanism and certain mainstreams of environmental thought. Showing how Dalit experiences of environment are ridden with metaphors of pollution, impurity, and dirt, the author is able to bring forth new dimensions on both environment and Dalits, without valourizing the latter’s standpoint. Rather than looking for a coherent understanding of their ecology, the book explores the diverse and rich intellectual resources of Dalits, such as movements, songs, myths, memories, and metaphors around nature. These reveal their quest to define themselves in caste-ridden nature and building a form of environmentalism free from the burdens of caste. The Dalits also pose a critical challenge to Indian environmentalism, which has, until now, marginalized such linkages between caste and nature. |
Contents
Sulabh and the Denial of Dalit Existence | |
Dalit Environmental Visions | |
Ambedkar and Environmental Thought | |
Dalit Memories and Water Rights | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
agrarian agricultural Alwar Ambedkar Andolan animals anti-caste Balmikis Bihar Bindeshwar Pathak Brahmanical caste system celebration Chamars common spaces conservation construction CPRs cultural Dalit environmental Dalit writer Dashrath Manjhi Delhi Devi discourses district dominant earth eco-casteism ecological economic Ekalavya environment environmental thought environmentalists example festival fisherfolk fishing forest Gahlaur Gandhi Ganga gender Hindu Hinduism human Indian environmental Interview irrigation Jhanjharpur Kagzi Tola Kancha Ilaiah Kumar labour land liberation living Madhubani Madhubani district Mahad Mahar Maharashtra Mallahs manual scavenging Manusmriti Maya modern mountain Musahars narratives National natural resources October organization Oxford University Press Paryavaran Periyar perspective Phule political pollution ponds Ramachandra Guha region religion religious rituals river rural sacred Sharma Shudras Singh society songs South India story struggles Sulabh International Sulabh Sanitation Movement Susie Tharu symbols tank traditional understanding untouchables varna Vedic village vision Vrindavan women worship writings