Unruly Hills: A Political Ecology of India's Northeast

330 Pages·2011·11.661 MB·English

by  Bengt G. Karlsson

Unruly Hills
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Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:00:35.
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Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:00:35.
Unruly Hills
A P E i ’
oliticAl cology of ndiA s
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orthEAst
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Berghahn Books
New York • Oxford
Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:00:35.
First published in 2011 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
©2011 Bengt G. Karlsson
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Karlsson, B. G.
Unruly hills : a political ecology of India’s northeast / Bengt G. Karlsson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-85745-104-0 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-0-85745-105-7
(ebook)
1. Indigenous peoples--Ecology--India, Northeastern. 2. Indigenous peoples--
Ecology--India--Meghalaya. 3. Political ecology--India, Northeastern. 4. Political
ecology--India--Meghalaya. 5. Environmental ethics--India, Northeastern.
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evre 6. Environmental ethics--India--Meghalaya. 7. Environmental degradation--
se India, Northeastern. 8. Environmental degradation--India--Meghalaya.
r sth 9. Deforestation--India, Northeastern. 10. Deforestation--India--Meghalaya.
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.de (India)--Environmental conditions. I. Title.
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I ,sko 2011006665
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a British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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reB A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
.11 Printed in the United States on acid-free paper.
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irypo E-ISBN: 978-0-85745-105-7
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Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:00:35.
In memory of my father
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Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:00:35.
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Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:00:35.
C
ontents
Acknowledgments ix
Glossary xii
Abbreviations xiii
List of Illustrations xiv
PART I: INTERSECTIONS
Introduction 3
Chapter 1 Nature and Nation 24
PART II: ENVIRONMENT
Chapter 2 Elusive Forests 77
Chapter 3 Shifting Land Rights 126
.d Chapter 4 Mining Matters 173
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gir llA .d CChhaapptteerr 56 IPnodliitgiceanlo Eucso Gloogvye rant athnece F rontier 222676
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Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:01:10.
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Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:01:10.
A
Cknowledgements
This book has been long in the making. Over the years my path has
crossed that of a number of people whose knowledge, friendship and
support have made the endeavour not only possible but enjoyable and
rewarding. First of all I would like to offer a collective thanks to all of
you who spoke to me and shared your views on the topics at hand.
Without you, there would obviously have been little for me to report.
Among my friends and colleagues I would first like to thank Gunnel
Cederlöf. Gunnel and I have been involved in several joint ventures
at Uppsala University, collaborations I highly appreciate. Together
we received a generous research grant from the Bank of Sweden
Tercentenary Foundation that enabled us to work on rights and claims in
nature in India. Gunnel’s important monograph Landscapes and the Law:
Environmental Politics, Regional Histories and Contests over Nature (2008)
and the present volume are the main publications of the project.
Tanka B. Subba, professor of anthropology at the North-Eastern Hill
.de University (NEHU) in Shillong, has helped me immensely in realizing
vre
se this project. I came to know Tanka back in 1989 and we have since been
r sth in dialogue, sharing ideas and texts. As with my earlier works, Tanka has
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.d tion. Tanka and his wife Roshina have also opened their home for me,
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ro making me part of the family. For all this, I am truly thankful. NEHU
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rocn has been my institutional base in India for almost a decade. Institutional
I ,sko backing has been critical and I would like to thank the university admin-
oB istration and the faculty members, especially A.K. Nongkynrih, A.C.
n
ha Sinha, David Syiemlieh, H.J. Syiemlieh, L. Cajee, S.K. Barik and B.K.
h
gre Tiwari. At the Tura Campus, I am particularly grateful to the eminence
B
.1 of Garo studies, professor emeritus Milton S. Sangma.
1
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2 © Already during one of my first days in Shillong I ended up on the
th doorstep of the small office of the magazine Grassroots Options run by
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iryp journalists Linda Chhakchhuak and Sanat K. Chakraborty. Since then I
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have pestered Linda and Sanat with countless questions and requests
and they have patiently served tea and offered their opinions or dug
through dusty files, searching for a particular document or article.
Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:01:23.
x Acknowledgements
Vincent Darlong and Imtienla Ao at the Ministry of Environment and
Forests have offered invaluable assistance over the years. Vincent also
introduced me to Banlum Blah and his wife Pam who run a guest house
in Shillong. As it turned out, Bonnie Guest House was the ideal place
to stay and Banlum and Pam soon became my close friends. They have
both been of immense help and comfort for which I am most grateful.
During travels, especially in the Garo Hills, I have been lucky to have
Somu Ingty as my guide. Somu knows people and places in Meghalaya
better than most and through him I have learned a great deal about the
ground realities in the state. I would also like to thank Daniel Ingty and
the local IFAD team in Tura who allowed me to accompany them to
various project sites in the Garo Hills where I learned about their experi-
ences in community resource management. In Tura I ran in to the Dutch
anthropologist Erik de Maaker. Erik has since provided many insights
relating to Garo society. Deputy Commissioner Shyam Jagannathan in
Tura was kind enough to give free access to the archival material kept in
the record room.
In Guwahati I have had a friendly circle of travelling scholars in Sanjib
Baruah, Zilkia Janer, Xonzoi Barbora and Dolly Kikon. Ongoing conver-
sations with them helped me comprehend some of the troubled aspects
of Northeast India. Sanjib, as head of the research centre CENISEAS,
provided an important forum for me to present ongoing work. Xonzoi
has been kind enough to go through the first drafts of all the chapters,
offering most valuable comments. Sociologist Tiplut Nongbri gave
important input at an earlier stage of the research. Her publications
are central references in my work. Ecologist P.S. Ramakrishnan, also at
.d the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, has similarly provided key
e
vre insights and shared with me his rich work on environmental issues in
ser sthg Mreseegahraclha yI ah aadn dth Ne oprrtihveialesgt em oofr be egiennge ara vlliys.i tDinugr ipnogs tthdeo cintoitriaall fpehllaoswe oaft mthye
ir llA University of Chicago (the academic year of 2000/1). I am deeply thank-
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eta ful to my hosts at the South Asian Studies Center and the Department
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p of South Asian Languages and Civilizations and to The Swedish
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cnI ,sko FEoduuncadtaiotino n( SfToIrN TIn) tefornr aotfifoenrainl gC tohoep feerlalotiwonsh iipn. MReys egarrecaht eastn din dHeibgtheder-
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n ness is to Dipesh Chakrabarty for hospitality, friendship and continued
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B Nye for his most valuable assistance in accessing the rich archival mate-
.1
10 rial held at the Regenstein Library (India Office collections on loan from
2
© British Library). In Chicago I also had the great pleasure to get to know
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giryp Kunal and Shubhra Chakrabarti, who also were visiting fellows at the
oC time. Their home has ever since been my refuge while in Delhi.
Others scholars with whom I have been in contact over the years
and whose scholarship have had a significant impact on my thinking
Karlsson, Bengt G.. Unruly Hills : A Political Ecology of India's Northeast, Berghahn Books, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest
Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/asb/detail.action?docID=717910.
Created from asb on 2020-02-13 06:01:23.