About the Book

The book is based on an ethnographic study on grassroots environmental action being undertaken by the people of the Garhwal Himalayan region. The fragile and bountiful ecosystem of the region, which has been home to the celebrated Chipko Movement, is increasingly confronting a contradiction between the claims of environment and development within the neoliberal context of contemporary times.

Covering an extensive spatial context, the book aims at drawing upon the discourse of peoples' participation in the protection and regeneration of their environment. A special focus of the book is on the issues, dimensions and nuances pertaining to women's interface with the environment, both as protectors and managers of the natural resources that form the core of their subsistence. The research work Being trans- disciplinary, this book shall be an important reference for students of social work, women's studies, sociology, anthropology and environmental studies. It shall also provide valuable rallying points and basis for action by the innumerable individuals and groups, who are struggling to save the environment from degradation and decimation.

About Author

Dr. Neera Agnimitra is an Associate Professor at the Delhi School of Social Work, University of Delhi. She has been teaching the courses on 'Environment and Social Work', 'Community Work' and 'Social Work and Disaster Management' at the University. She has also been actively contributing to grassroots action in the domain of environment and community development for the last twenty five years. Through her continuous engagement with women and youth groups in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Bihar, and her writings and lectures delivered at several national and international conferences, she has contributed immensely to the acceptance of human ecology and disaster management as integral areas of social work education and practice. She is associated with a number of community based organisations and national and international non-governmental organisations and has played a pivotal role in the disaster relief and rehabilitation engagements of the University of Delhi, having a rich experience and expertise in this domain.

Contents

Preface 

List of Tables 

List of Figures 

Introduction

Environment and Environmental Discourse; Concepts of Participation and Development; Community/Peoples’ Participation; The Idea of Participatory Development; Concept of Sustainability; People’s Participation in Environmental Conservation and Management; Women and Environment

Methodological Parameters of Engagement with the Field

Objectives; Research Design; Operational Definitions; Relevance of the Study; Dimensions of Coverage; Sampling Frame; Data Collection; Interview; Focus Group Discussion

The Landscape: Ecology and People

The Area; The People of Bhilangana; Women in Bhilangana

State of the Environment and Environmental Action

The State of the Environment; Environmental Policies, Legislations and Programmes; Analysis of Legal Frame-work; Programmes of Environmental Protection and Promotion

People and their Environment: Awareness and Interrelationships

The Respondents: Their Background; People’s Awareness about the Environment

 People’s Participation: Forms, Nature, Levels and Methods

Forms of Participation; Nature of Participation; Regularity of Participation; Duration of Participation; Level of Participation; Methods of Securing Participation

Women and their Participation

Women’s Participation: Nature and Forms; Nature of Participation; Scope of Participation; Regularity of Participation; Duration of Participation; Level of Participation

People’s Perception about their Participation

Factors Promoting/Hindering Participation; Factors Promoting/Hindering Women’s Participation; Impact of Participation; Suggestions for Future Environmental Initiatives; Suggestions for Enhancement of People’s Participation

The Way Forward

Suggestions and Recommendations; Scope for Social Work Intervention

Appendices

  I Interview Schedule

  II Scale for Measurement of Level of Participation

  Select Bibliography

Index    

Additional Info.