Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Development
Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction/Sukant K. Chaudhury. 2. Rethinking sustainable development--ecology and culture in India\'s developmental context/S.L. Sharma. 3. Sociological concerns of ecology and environment--some emerging issues/J.K. Pundir. 4. Debating environment and ecology within the context of culture and cosmos/Shalina Mehta. 5. Sustainable development--shift from population to cultural paradigm/A.K. Sharma. 6. Environment and sustainable development/Pratyush Mani Tripathi. 7. Tribal ecology in India--the ugly face of development/Awadhesh Kumar Singh. 8. Cognitive environment and ecological relationship - a study of Jads of Uttar Kashi/Subhadra Mitra Channa. 9. Dynamics of health and ecology--a study of indigenous medicine among the Karang fisherman of Manipur/Oinam Hemlata Devi, Sonia Kaushal, Shashi Katewa and P.C. Joshi. 10. Healing through the supernatural--a psycho-cultural study of Pari Ki Pakarh in Kumaun/Meena K. Kharkwal. 11. People and culture--Himalayan eco-system and its future/P.C. Joshi. 12. Land based livelihood strategies for tribal development/H.S. Saksena. 13. The politics of water-lake, people and the state/S.M. Patnaik and Nilika Mehrotra. 14. Religion and environment--a perspective from the community of Bishnois/Vinay Kumar Srivastava. 15. Religion-environment interface--Islamic environmentalism/Nadeem Hasnain. 16. Effect of altitude on physical growth--a case of Bhotias of Uttaranchal/N.K. Vaid. 17. Urban growth and water quality and quantity management--a study of Lucknow city/J.S. Simlai. 18. Dynamics of urban ecology in upper Kullu Valley--the Himachal Pradesh/B.W. Pandey. 19. Role of geomorphology in land-use planning--a study from super cyclone affected areas of Jagatsinghpur district, Orissa/K.C. Das. Index.
"Ecology is of great concern to every society because it depends upon its environment for resources that safeguard its survival. Resource mobilization has been largely cultural in nature. Less technological skill means less exploitation of natural resources and advanced technology means more aggressive resource exploitation. Today undoubtedly maddening consumerism has resulted in serious ecological crises. It is of mounting concern to politicians, bureaucrats and both social and physical scientists and activists to ponder over the issue and provide a viable strategy for conservation as well as development. Sustainable development is the key word today; unless we have a fear psychosis towards our dangerous future we cannot help ourselves but continue to destroy. It is well known that India is one of the 12 mega biodiversity countries and holds 8.1 per cent of the world\'s total biodiversity. Being a predominantly agriculture-based country, India also has a mix of wild and cultivated habitats, giving rise to specialised biodiversity. Therefore enhancing and conserving environmental resources becomes a big challenge today. The book discusses the above issues substantiated with cases from various communities in India. It will be of interest to administrators, anthropologists, sociologists and environmentalists." (jacket)
