Caste and Nature : Dalits and Indian Environmental Politics

Sharma, Mukul

OUP India（2017/12発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 336 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780199477562
• DDC分類 304.20954

Full Description

Rarely 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

Acknowledgements ix
Introduction xiii
1. Eco-casteism: Sulabh and the Denial of Dalit Existence 1
2. Dalit Environmental Visions 60
3. Ambedkar and Environmental Thought 114
4. Dalit Memories and Water Rights 161
5. The Dalit Mountain Man and New Commons 212
Conclusion 255
Glossary 261
Bibliography 269
Index 289
About the Author 298