Religion and Ecology in India and Southeast AsiaThe resolution of the ecological problems facing the Indian sub-continent -- with its huge Himalayan land mass and large population -- and southeast Asia will be a major factor in whether life as we know it will survive beyond the early centuries of the new millennium. Religion and Ecology in India and Southeast Asia looks at the part the Hindu and Buddhist traditions could play in promoting more just and sustainable relationships between people and the natural world. The ecological potential of these traditions is considered both from a historical perspective, and in relation to their contemporary expressions. From this view of these traditions, transformations between the past and the present are shown to offer the most fertile possibilities for improvement. David L. Gosling's arguments are based on the extensive fieldwork he has carried out in the region and are framed by the sociopolitical context of religious change in India and southeast Asia, where it is maintained that the development-led analysis of Amartya Sen, with its emphasis on participative education, healthcare and a reduction of the gender imbalance, is a crucial prerequisite for social and environmental improvement. Though regional in scope, this is a study of global significance, considering the most urgent social and environmental problems of the new millennium. |
Contents
Ecology and Buddhism | 12 |
Ecology and Hindu tradition | 16 |
Ecology and modern India | 34 |
Struggles for the forests | 51 |
a case study | 58 |
1246803 | 63 |
Social and environmental activities | 96 |
27 | 100 |
Beyond liberalization | 131 |
Expanding our horizons | 159 |
Transformations | 165 |
Environmentalists at the crossroads | 171 |
Indian nongovernmental organizations | 181 |
5555 | 184 |
Select glossary | 188 |
| 201 | |
