Thakur, S. Environmental crises as crises of representation: Community rights and natural resource (Mis) management in India. Jindal Global Law Review 16, 357–386 (2025).
https://doi.org/10.1007/s41020-025-00273-3
Abstract
If one has to look for the origin to diffusing environmental crises, one must look in the forests and the usurpation of its governance from communities by the developmental state. This paper undertakes an interdisciplinary examination of the nexus between environmental crises, representation, community rights, and natural resource management in India, specifically focusing on the marginalisation of forest dwellers. Drawing insights from subaltern studies and postcolonial theory, the analysis centres on three pivotal moments within the legal framework on forest governance, namely, the enactment of the Forest Rights Act 1972, the Niyamgiri Hills movement and the subsequent court decision, and the 2019 Supreme Court eviction order of forest dwellers from forest land. Through a critical examination of these case studies, the paper argues that environmental crises in India are fundamentally crises of representation, perpetuated by hegemonic structures that marginalise tribal and local voices and interests. The theoretical framework encompasses the works of Antonio Gramsci, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, and Foucault, among others. This framework can help examine how dominant narratives and power structures shape environmental policies and resource management practices, often to the detriment of the forest-dwelling communities.
Keywords
Forest Rights Act, Adivasi, Forest dwellers, Representation, Traditional knowledge, Natural resource management
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