Course Description

The idea of environment as a separate sphere of articulation and governance has been fairly recent in India. The politics of governing the environment in India has been shaped by western traditions and constructions of resources and ideas about the environment. This course traces the contours of the politics around resources in India and its underpinnings in global discourses in constructing issues around the environment.

The course explores conflict and contestation around the idea of the environment and its role in shaping policies and institutions. To this end, it is structured into understanding how the domain on the environment is constructed, what values and conflicts underpin its contestations, how equity and inclusion are understood from different perspectives and how this plays out in creating a development process that will integrate equity and inclusion. One finds that the contestations around the environment have played into other questions like those of gender, development and indigenous rights. This has led to further separation of the growth and environment paradigm which is negotiated by key institutions, movements and actors who have mediated these questions of justice within the field of environment in India. This has led to institutions of governance and conservation that are specifically focused on environment questions, both nationally and globally.

This course is an elective designed to complement core courses in environmental law, political science, or public policy. It builds on foundational courses related to environmental studies and political systems and offers a focused exploration of different dimensions of environmental politics and governance.

The course is structured to examine both the theoretical underpinnings and practical implications of environmental governance in India. It balances the inclusion of primary and secondary readings, group discussions, peer learning and lectures. Each session is structured as a lecture which is followed by discussion and some hands on/interactive component which will allow for developing and applying relevant theory and background knowledge to well-defined socio-environmental problems/ contexts in India.