Nature, Knowledge and Development: Critical Essays on the Environmental History of India

This volume delves deeply into historical research in order to exemplify theoretical claims of historical meta-narratives and to explain the present predicament of environmentalism. The consequences of colonialism, industrialization and capitalist interventions in the environment have brought the colonized regions of South Asia into focus and made environmental history a field of great importance. Accordingly, the essays herein highlight the importance of comparative studies within the field of environmental history. From the legacy of colonial forest policies to contemporary watershed programmes, these essays address several of India’s more prominent environmental history issues, placing them within the comparative frameworks of time, region, society and culture.