International Workshop on Livelihoods and the Environment: Debating Interdisciplinary Perspectives

International Workshop on Livelihoods and the Environment: Debating Interdisciplinary Perspectives

15–16 October 2009

Venue:

Seminar Room, Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Organised by:

Centre for Studies in Science Policy (JNU), Department of History (University of Delhi) and the Department of History (Uppsala University, Sweden)

The workshop aims at bringing together some of the new and exciting work in the field, especially from Sweden and India. The emphasis will be on enabling a dialogue across disciplines, with a special accent on reviewing ongoing work by younger scholars. The idea is to offer a platform for thought, reflection, debate and dialogue for an understanding of the linked challenges of nature, knowledge, ecology and academic enquiry.

Thematic Sessions

1. Debating Environmental Protection
2. Environmental Technologies and Sustainable Visions
3. Environmental Stress, Communities and Social Action
4. Statemaking and Ecologies of Place
5. Animals, Wildness and Tameness

Programme Schedule

Thursday 15th October

11:00–11.30 Registration

11.30-11.45 Introductory Remark

• Mahesh Rangarajan (Department of History, University of Delhi)

11:45–12:45 Welcome and Keynote

• Chair: Amita Singh [Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, JNU]
• Ghazala Shahabuddin [Ambedkar University of Delhi] with Madhu Rao [Wildlife Conservation Society, New York] Do communities care? biological perspectives on community-conserved areas.

12:45–14:00 Lunch

14:00–15:45 SESSION 1: DEBATING ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

• Chair: Deepak Kumar [Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies, JNU]
• Beppe Karlsson [Dept. of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University] Nuclear energy, climate change and social critique
• Guro Aandahl [Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo] Technocratic dreams and troublesome beneficiaries: the Sardar Sarovar project in Gujarat
• Kenneth Bo Nielsen [Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo] The car factory that never happened – The Singur controversy and contested development

Discussants

• Manju Menon, Centre for Studies in Science Policy, JNU
• Himanshu Upadhyay, Senior Researcher, Academy for Mountain Environments
• Sagar Trivedi, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU

15:45–16:00 Tea Break

16:00–17:45 SESSION 2: ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES AND SUSTAINABLE VISIONS

• Chair: Gunnel Cederlof [Department of History, Uppsala University]
• M. Rajshekhar [Independent Scholar] The law that disagreed with its' Preamble: an enquiry into the drafting of the Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers (RECOGNITION OF FOREST RIGHTS) ACT, 2006
• Seema Arora Jonsson [Department of Rural and Urban Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences] Environmentalism with growth: the politics of climate change

Discussants

• Archana Prasad, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
• Radhika Krishnen, Centre for Studies in Science Policy, JNU

19:00 Workshop Dinner

Friday 16th October

9.30-10.45 SESSION 3: ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS, COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL ACTION

• Chair: Pamela Price [Department of History, Oslo University]
• Katrin Uba [Department. of Government, Uppsala University] Grass-root activism and renewable energy policies in India
• Jasmin Kantha [Department of History, Patna Women’s College] In the Womb of the Ganga: Gangotas and their threatened livelihoods
• Siddhartha Krishnan [Fellow, Social Sciences, ATREE, Bangalore] Identity and Income Predicaments of the Toda that Arise from Tiger Depredation of their Sacred and Secular Buffaloes: The Emergence of an Interdisciplinary Interface on the Nilgiri Pastures.

Discussants

• Anurita Saxena, Himachal Pradesh University, Himachal Pradesh
• Rohan D'Souza, Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University
• Gunnel Cederlof, Department of History, Uppsala University

10:45–11:00 Tea break

11:00–12:45 SESSION 4: STATEMAKING AND ECOLOGIES OF PLACE

• Chair: Rohan D’Souza [CSSP, Jawaharlal Nehru University]
• Shashank Kela [New India Foundation Fellow] Rulers, subjects and landscapes: the agrarian structure of tribal states
• Nalini Singh [Aditi Mahavidyalaya, University of Delhi] Deforestation, agriculture and habitation: Awadh from Mughal to colonial times (c.1600-1900)
• Arupjyoti Saikia [Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati] Forestry, grazing and livelihood: agrarian practices in forested lands in colonial Assam

Discussant

• Charu Singh, Centre for Historical Studies (JNU)
• Meena Bhargava, I.P. College University of Delhi
• Nitin Sethi, Senior Correspondent, The Times of India

12:45–14:00 Lunch

14:00–15:00 Keynote

• Chair: Mahesh Rangarajan [Department of History, University of Delhi]
• E. Somanathan [Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi & R Prabhakar, ATREE, Bangalore & B. S. Mehta, Foundation for Ecological Security] Decentralization for cost-effective conservation

15:00–15:30 Tea Break

15:30–17:15 SESSION 5: ANIMALS, WILDNESS AND TAMENESS

• Chair: Sangeeta Dasgupta [Centre for Historical Studies, JNU]
• M. D. Madhusudan [Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore] Making better neighbours of endangered elephant and beleaguered farmers: A field test of interdisciplinarity
• Meena Radhakrishna [Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi] Perceptions, policies and practices : hunting communities as "Criminal Tribes"
• P. R. Nisha [Dept. of History, University of Delhi] Wild Animals and Indian Circus: Notes on Wildlife, Livelihood and the State

Discussant

• Mahesh Rangarajan, Department of History, University of Delhi
• Vikram Dayal, Institute of Economic Growth, University of Delhi
• Savyasaachi, Department of Sociology, Jamia Milia Islamia

17:15–18:00 Final Panel

• Gunnel Cederlöf [Department of History, Uppsala University]
• Rohan D'Souza [Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University

19:00 Workshop Dinner