Journals
Reflections on Politics of Ecology
Vol IX, No.1 | May 2018
Contents
Salesian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
Reflections on Politics of Ecology
ISSN: 0976-1861
Section: Contents
CONTENTS
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 |Page No: iii-iv | Section: Contents
POLITICS OF ECOLOGY
| ISSN 0976-1861 | May 2018 | Vol. IX, No.1 |
CONTENTS
Editorial Re-imagining Human-Nature Relationship in North Bengal Biju Mathew | v |
Act East Policy of India: Proposed Research Agenda to Facilitate Economically Linking North Bengal with North East India Milindo Chakrabarti | 1 |
Change in Nature and Change via Nature: A Brief Review of Ideas of ‘Change’ and their Implications for Nature Priya Sangameswaran | 15 |
Re-reading Nature, Reproduction and Motherhood: Towards an Alternative to Development M S Sreerekha | 25 |
Cross Border Institutional Cooperation on Environmental Protection in Eastern Himalayan Region Namrata Rai & Sebastian N | 31 |
British Strategic Interest in the Eastern Himalayan Region: A Study with Special Reference to Darjeeling and Sikkim Rajiv Rai | 44 |
Linking Environmental History of South Asia with Colonial Darjeeling Hills: A Unique Historical Palimpsest Tahiti Sarkar | 56 |
Tribal Community, Land Tenure and Natural Resource Conservation in Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan North Bengal Govinda Choudhury | 63 |
Sustainable Tourism in West Bengal and Lower Assam: Enhancing Experiences and Inspiring Engagement through Interpretation Shomik Saha | 72 |
Colonial Intervention and Hill Ecology: Explaining the Historical Ecology of Darjeeling Hills K J Jose | 81 |
Owning North Bengal : Re-imagining Human–Nature Relationship George Thadathil | 91 |
Book Reviews Chetan Singh: Himalayan Histories: Economy, Polity, Religious Traditions By Bikash Sarma | 98 |
Vivek Chibber: Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital By George Thadathi |
Editorial
Editorial
Re-imagining Human-Nature Relationship in North Bengal
Biju Mathew is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Political Science, Salesian College, Siliguri Campus. His areas of interest are Political theory, Indian State and Politics
and International Relations.
Editorial
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.iii-vi | Page No: v-viii| Section: Editorial
Editorial: Re-Imagining Human-Nature Relationship in North Bengal | v
Editorial:
Re-imagining Human-Nature Relationship in North Bengal
Biju Mathew is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Political Science, Salesian College, Siliguri Campus. His areas of interest are Political theory, Indian State and Politics and International Relations.
Ever since Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) brought the environmental issues to the popular consciousness, slowly but steadily, the scientific, academic and the political community has been engaged in rethinking, many a times collectively addressing, the issues of social/human relations with nature. Henceforth, climate change, global warming, rising food prices, energy security, waste management, ozone depletion, loss of biodiversity, extinction of species, deforestation, loss of people’s livelihood, depletion of finite natural resources, land degradation, pollution of all kinds, access to clean water, lack of sanitary facilities etc are all part of many global as well national and local debates and discussions. Alongside, theoretical perspectives like neo-Marxism and Feminism have begun to explore the change in the meanings of ‘nature’ in different discourses and representational practices, in trying to understand the social construction of nature. Unfortunately, most of the discussions veer around the assumption that the earth’s environment is a subset of the human activity, and that earth belongs to humans. Whereas, in reality, human culture and its economy are a subset of the earth’s environment and resources, and humanity is only one of millions of species that depend on them.
Articles
Act East Policy of India: Proposed Research Agenda to Facilitate Economically Linking North Bengal with North East India
Milindo Chakrabarti
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.1-14 | Page No: 01-14| Section: Article
Act East Policy of India: Proposed Research Agenda to Facilitate Economically Linking North Bengal with North East India | 1
Act East Policy of India: Proposed Research Agenda to Facilitate Economically Linking North Bengal with North East
India Milindo Chakrabarti has distinguished experience of over 27 years of teaching and research in Micro-economics, International Trade & Business, Environmental Economics, Indian Economics and Development Economics, both nationally and internationally. Currently, he is a Professor with School of Business Studies and School of Law at Sharda University, Greater Noida. He also delivered lectures at Indiana University, Bloomington, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Entrepreneurship Development Institute, Gandhi Nagar. Right now he is associated with the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada as an Adjunct Faculty and recently joined Research and Information System for Developing Countries, an autonomous think tank of the Ministry of External Affairs as a Visiting Consultant. Dr Milindo has extensive experience in policy development and practice, and wide knowledge and experience working in different fields, such as, natural resources, social sectors, rural development, key cross-cutting issues, environment, governance and institutional development. Besides, he is Professor, School of Government and Public Policy, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat & Visiting Fellow, Research And Information System for Developing Countries, New Delhi
Abstract
The districts of North Bengal, when taken up for a closer scrutiny in terms of their economic status vis-a-vis resources and their potential marketability, calls for a specialised study. In the light of the upcoming high end connectivity through South Asian Highways under the Act East Policy, these districts are poised on the vantage point of loss or gain, depending on the utilization of the new opportunities and/or through the nurturing of the traditional resource rich enclave the region happens to be. A statistical analysis of the resource table of the districts and their connectivity with international counter parts in the wake of the new South Asian Highways in the making calls for researchers to contribute to the development of the region by identifying those products that need marketability and quality enhancement in order to withstand the competition necessarily to follow from the increased connectivity and inflow of goods.
Keywords: North Bengal Region, North East, South Asian Highways, Border Districts, Agriculture & Production
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Change in Nature and Change via Nature: A Brief Review of Ideas of ‘Change’ and their Implications for Nature
Priya Sangameswaran
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.15-24 | Page No: 15-24| Section: Article
Change in Nature and Change via Nature: A Brief Review of Ideas of ‘Change’ and ... | 15
Change in Nature and Change via Nature: A Brief Review of Ideas of ‘Change’ and their Implications for Nature
Priya Sangameswaran is an Associate Professor in Development Studies at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. She has a PhD in Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her areas of interest are Post–development theory, political ecology, heterodox economic theory, rights–based discourses, the concept of community in development practice and natural resource management, theorizing neo–liberalization and its working in the context of water, ideas of nature, urban space, and discourses of urban development.
Abstract
Even as interactions between human beings and nature have assumed increasingly complex and uncertain forms, the theorization of nature in both the natural and social sciences has seen many shifts and developments. One concept which has been crucial across different disciplines and over varied time periods is ‘change’, although there are wide variations in the meaning, implications and normative value accorded to it. This paper will review three strands of literature on ‘change’ which have shaped contemporary environmental discourses in crucial ways. The first strand – referred to as ‘change in nature’ – deals with differing opinions in the natural sciences about the changing behavior of nature. In the second strand called ‘change via nature’, change in human societies is the primary focus and nature is viewed mainly in terms of its potential for societal change (with a particularly instrumental view of nature being present in modernization theories of development). The third strand questions the separation that is often made between nature and society in the first two strands and instead conceptualizes change in nature and change via nature in an interconnected fashion. Apart from bringing together disparate strands of thought on ‘change’ and ‘nature’, the aim of the paper is to indicate new ways to reconceptualize and reframe society-nature relations.
Keywords: Nature, Change, Progress, Development, Biophysical Transformation
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Re-reading Nature, Reproduction and Motherhood: Towards an Alternative to Development
M S Sreerekha
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.25-30 | Page No: 25-30| Section: Article
Re-Reading Nature, Reproduction and Motherhood: Towards an Alternative to Development | 25
Re-Reading Nature, Reproduction and Motherhood: Towards an Alternative to Development
M S Sreerekha is an Assistant Professor at the Global Development Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, US. She holds her PhD in Political Science from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and her Master’s degree in Gender and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK. Before moving to University of Virginia, she was an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Women’s Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. Her areas of interest and activist work span theories of work and women’s work, socialist feminism and theories of development to feminist research methodologies and social movements. She writes on gender, tribal land rights and development debates in Kerala, with a focused critique on the ‘development’ paradigm.
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to critically look at some of the important debates within feminist debates on ecofeminism, by specifically focussing on different schools of feminist critiques of development, and these include socialist feminists to eco-feminists. It is well acknowledged that the concept of femininity and motherhood and its defined relationship with nature has played an important role in feminist critiques of development. And the nature/culture binary in western theories of knowledge has had an important role in contributing to this relationship. However, Feminist epistemologies have debated for long the origin and history of binaries in western theories of knowledge and its contribution to the concept and politics of development. Feminist critiques of development have contributed important fundamental challenges to the nature/culture binary and also to the production/reproduction binary, which provided an in depth understanding and critique of the norm and normality around nature and the ‘human’ nature. Feminist critiques of development in general took the position that the failures of development established a clear connection between ecological crisis and capitalist growth. The paper argues that the challenges raised by categories of race, caste and class are once again extremely relevant in contemporary times in order to bring any meaningful changes towards rereading nature/culture binary or relationship and its impact of the politics around reproduction and motherhood which are fundamental to any ideas and thoughts towards rethinking development.
Keywords: Nature, Ecofeminism, Motherhood, Reproduction, Development
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Cross Border Institutional Cooperation on Environmental Protection in Eastern Himalayan Region
Namrata Rai & Sebastian N
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.31-44 | Page No: 31-44| Section: Article
Cross Border Institutional Cooperation on Environmental Protection in Eastern Himalayan Region | 31
Cross Border Institutional Cooperation on Environmental Protection in
Eastern Himalayan Region
Namrata Rai is currently pursuing PhD in International Relations at the Department of International Relations, Sikkim Central University, Gangtok on Institutional Cooperation on Environmental protection in Himalayan Region. She did her MA and MPhil in International Relations from the same department. Her MPhil dissertation was on Local Responses to Global Environmental Initiatives. She has published research articles on Local-Global Linkages in Environmental Initiatives.
Sebastian N has done his PhD from JNU and currently working as Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Calicut. Earlier he worked as Senior Assistant Professor at Department of International Relations, Sikkim Central University. He has to his credits Books, Monographs, Edited Volumes, and has published many research articles in international and national journals and edited books.
Abstract
This paper examines the cross border Institutional cooperation on issues related to environmental protection in Eastern Himalayan Region with a focus on India, Bhutan and Nepal. Eastern Himalayan Region is a trans-boundary region where biodiversity, landscape and geography are same, but politics and policies are different. The countries of the Eastern Himalayan Region shares same landscape, but lack a uniform policy to address environmental issues. This creates immense challenge to achieve environmental goals. In such a case environmental problems in the Eastern Himalayan region might not get addressed. Therefore cooperation between states becomes important. However to bridge this policy gap, institutions addressing the issue of environment are playing active role to bring cooperation among these countries to preserve the environment.
Keywords: Eastern Himalayas, Environmental Cooperation, Biological Diversity, Mountain Development, Conservation.
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British Strategic Interest in the Eastern Himalayan Region: A Study with Special Reference to Darjeeling and Sikkim
Rajiv Rai
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.45-56 | Page No: 44-56| Section: Article
British Strategic Interest in the Eastern Himalayan Region: A Study with Special Rreference to... | 45
British Strategic Interest in the Eastern Himalayan Region: A Study with Special Reference to Darjeeling and Sikkim
Rajiv Rai is a PhD Scholar currently pursuing his PhD from the Department of International Relations, Sikkim University and is in his final year of PhD submission. He has done his BA from St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling, his MA, MPhil and currently pursuing PhD from Sikkim University. He has several articles to his credit published in reputed journals besides presenting papers in national and international seminars, and a book to his credit. His keen interest is in a period of British influence in the Sikkimese Himalayas and the surroundings and has gone to explore the East India Company archives in Dhaka, Bangladesh hitherto looked by any historians/researchers.
Abstract
The history of nation state formation in the Indian subcontinent throws much light on contemporary realities. The smaller kingdoms and princely states slowly succumbed the strategising of the company leaders and thence forward by the representatives of British Raj. In this process the annexation story of Darjeeling from the Sikkim Rajah and later the entire kingdom of Sikkim by the Indian state shows interesting operational principles in its ideational mode as well as actuality. The international legal status of the small kingdom of Sikkim and the history of it being willy nilly forced to cede the territory of Darjeeling to British East India Company is what constitutes the core narrative of this paper.
Keywords: Darjeeling, Sikkim, Annexation, East India Company, British Raj
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Linking Environmental History of South Asia with Colonial Darjeeling Hills: A Unique Historical Palimpsest
Tahiti Sarkar
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.57-64 | Page No: 57-64| Section: Article
Linking Environmental History of South Asia with Colonial Darjeeling Hills: A Unique Historical Palimpsest | 57
Linking Environmental History of South Asia with Colonial Darjeeling Hills: A Unique Historical Palimpsest
Tahiti Sarkar is currently working as Assistant Professor of History in the University of North Bengal. She obtained her PhD from the University of North Bengal. She has earlier worked as Assistant Professor in Raiganj University and Sikkim Manipal University. Her area of specialization is Modern Indian History, and specifically her research interest is the Environmental History of South Asia.
Abstract
Few landscapes in India have attracted as least attention by the post-colonial scholarship in terms of material transformations and environmental enquiry as Darjeeling Himalaya. Within the general historiographical discourse on environmental history, two broad trends seem discernable: the American tradition and the French tradition. While the former thrusts upon the dialectics of environmental destruction/ degradation and conservation, the latter, represented by the Annales School of France, contradicts the American tradition of perennial changes occurring in the environment. Placed between these two ‘grand traditions’, the environmental historians of South Asia have benefited from both ends. Yet, South Asia’s particular place in the field of environmental history perhaps rests on a set of unique and diverse ecological, regimes with which American or French landscape may not be compared. This paper, however, is not an attempt to provide the broader framework for understanding the intricate historical events for a longer period, rather, it attempts an outline of how colonial material transformations brought change in the landscape, in the production relations and mode of resource use in the colonial period leaviing indelible marks on the society, economy and politics of the region with special reference to Darjeeling hills.
Keywords: Darjeeling, Environmental History, Ecology, South Asia, Colonial Forestry
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Tribal Community, Land Tenure and Natural Resource Conservation in Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan North Bengal
Govinda Choudhury
Articles
Tribal Community, Land Tenure and Natural Resource Conservation in Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan North Bengal
Govinda Choudhury has been teaching Economics in the Department of Economics, University of North Bengal since 2006. He teaches economic theory, resource economics and research methodology. His PhD was on common property resources and community adaptation in Eastern Himalaya. His research interest is primarily on natural resource management, ecosystem services and tribal livelihood. He has worked UGC funded project on natural resources in the different agro-climatic region of North Bengal. The focus of his current projects is on the management of wetland and water issues in the context of climate change. At present, he is also engaged as a consultant for the District Human Development Report of Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal.Abstract
The primary economic objective of managing any natural resources is to maximize the long-term economic rent associated with it. The rationale for ‘rent capture’ is that, it would lead to improvement in social welfare through sharing of the surplus. However, from inception, forest reservation policies in India has been a process of curtailment of community rights and infringement on people’s freedom. The importance of local natural resources in rural economy is not just confined in its role for providing livelihood security to rural tribal poor, but its importance lies in the fact that, unlike the rich, the poor are worst affected due to lack of substitution possibilities of such resources.The focus of this study will be the tribal communities living in forest villages in the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan region of North Bengal. These villagers have endured years of exploitation, deprived of basic amenities, limited livelihood opportunities and were isolated from the mainstream. They always lived in fear of eviction as there was no tenure security. The FRA 2006 is the first piece of legislation that recognises the need for tenurial security of the forest communities. However, the manner in which FRA 2006 has been implemented in the study region raises question about its role in protecting the livelihood security of the forest dwellers. This study therefore enquires into the interlinkages between property rights, livelihood security and conservation effort of the forest communities in North Bengal. Keywords: Property Rights, Conservation, FRA, Tribal Community, North BengalLicense : Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
Sustainable Tourism in West Bengal and Lower Assam: Enhancing Experiences and Inspiring Engagement through Interpretation
Shomik Saha
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.75-82 | Page No: 75-82| Section: Article
Sustainable Tourism in West Bengal and Lower Assam : Enhancing Experiences and Inspiring Engagement... | 75
Sustainable Tourism in West Bengal and Lower Assam: Enhancing Experiences and Inspiring Engagement Through Interpretation
Shomik Saha is presently serving as Assistant Controller of Examination, Coochbehar Panchanan Barma University (State University). Till recently he was Head & Assistant Professor at the Department of Management Studies, Salesian College Siliguri Campus. He has to his credit a teaching experience of over 11years and a corporate experience of 3 years. He was a resource person for CBSE, CISCE, CBPBU, NBU and SMU (DE), and is a Life Member of Indian Commerce Association (ICA).
Abstract
For humans, sustainability is the potential for long-term maintenance of well-being, which has ecological, economic, political and cultural dimensions. Sustainability requires the reconciliation of environmental, equity (social) and economic demands - also referred to as the “three pillars” of sustainability (3 E’s).The concept of sustainable development has a long pedigree in the field of resource management and, at last, in becoming an acceptable term in tourism. The concept of sustainability is central to the reassessment of tourism’s role in society. It demands a long term view of economic activity, questions the imperative of continued economic growth, and ensures that consumption of tourism does not exceed the ability of the host destination to provide for future tourists. Public agencies are issuing guidelines for acceptable development tourism. Consumer groups are growing in number and influence and guides to responsible tourism are available. As a philosophical stance or a way of thinking, it is difficult to disagree with the concept of sustainable tourism development and responsible consumption of tourism.The question is who benefits from tourism? The simple answer is the tourism industry, that part of the economy which caters to the tourist, those firms and establishments which have a common function supplying tourist needs. In any productive process consisting of services, human resources remain the basic need. The volume of manpower engaged in activities complimentary to tourism industry in West Bengal & Lower Assam, is one of the highest in view of various sectors that are direct or indirect constituents of the industry. But the challenge remains to adequately respond to global and local challenges, to manage growth prudently, with an emphasis on ethics, poverty alleviation and sustainable environment.
Keywords: Environment, Equity, Economic demands, Resource management, Ethics, Poverty alleviation.
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Colonial Intervention and Hill Ecology: Explaining the Historical Ecology of Darjeeling Hills
K J Jose
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.83-92 | Page No: 83-92| Section: Article
Colonial Intervention and Hill Ecology : Explaining the Historical Ecology of Darjeeling Hills | 83
Colonial Intervention and Hill Ecology: Explaining the Historical Ecology of Darjeeling Hills
Jose KJ is in the Department of History, St Josephs College, North Point, Darjeeling for over 25 years. He has completed his Masters from Mumbai University and his research on colonial forest policy from University of Madras which is due to release as a book shortly.
Abstract
Global environmental concerns have of late led some historians to study the environmental aspects of the past human societies. Environmental change is arguably the most pressing and potentially disastrous problem facing the global community. Pollution, global warming, species extinction and massive disruption of critical ecosystems have become commonplace topics. Although recent improvements in the quality and quantity of data documenting environmental change have been dramatic, those who studied the problems or sought solutions to the problems have until recently been physical scientists with little or no training in the social sciences. The present study looks closely at the British colonial policies towards forest management with special reference to Darjeeling region and attempts to gauge its long term impact.
Keywords: Darejeeling, Forest Policy, Biodiversity, Flora and Fauna, Environment
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Owning North Bengal : Re-imagining Human–Nature Relationship
George Thadathil
Articles
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.93-98 | Page No: 93-98| Section: Article
Owning North Bengal: Re-Imaging Human-Nature Relationship | 93
Owning North Bengal: Re-imagining Human–Nature Relationship
George Thadathil is presently the Principal of Salesian College, Sonada, Darjeeling and its Siliguri Campus. Besides teaching and administration he is engaged in coordinating the research projects of the various departments of the college engaging the scholars of the region of North Bengal and Darjeeling where he has been serving the cause of education for the past 25 years. He has authored and edited seven books and published over thirty articles in journals and as chapters in edited volumes. He is also the series editor of Salesian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, in its eighth year and the founder director of Salesian Research and Translation Centre.
Since there were no avowed literary theorists among the official participants, let me begin with their perception and the ongoing debate in the field of theory on “nature”. The theorists who make much of the ‘linguistic constructedness of reality’, when, they, take a look at “nature” what do they see – the wild forests, the sublime scenes of beauty as in waterfalls, the countryside of hamlets nestling within the edges of groves or the domesticated picturesque parks? In all of these, is there an unconstructed (linguistically) pure nature out there? Or all of it, whichever way we conceive it, is a matter of how we have come to perceive it, or construct it ourselves in and through the language we have acquired, or, have been brought up to see reality through? While the literary and critical theorists position would be in the affirmative, needing a deconstruction inorder to get to the bottom of whatever truth there may be to the claim for ‘nature’; the opponent, with a scientific bend of mind, on the other side of the debating table would make the claim based on the ‘hole spotted in the ozone layer’ and measured by the scientific evidence; the latter would then be no mere linguistic construct, but rather, the hard veritable ‘reality’ out there. There is indeed a reality out there, irrespective of the manner in which we have been brought/taught to perceive by the advertising companies and market forces. ‘Nature’, therefore, ought to be taken care of and that very concern has brought us together. (Prof. Ramakrishnan made this case well as the underlying premise of all the theoretical presentations of the first day including the inaugural and keynote addresses)
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Book Reviews
Chetan Singh: Himalayan Histories: Economy, Polity, Religious Traditions
By Bikash Sarma
Book Reviews
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.99-102 | Page No: 99-102| Section: Book Reviews
Book Reviews: Himalayan Histories: Economy, Polity, Religious Traditions | 99
Chetan Singh, Himalayan Histories: Economy, Polity, Religious Traditions, (Ranikhet: Permanent Black, 2018), Rs. 895, pp. xi+303, Hbk, (ISBN 9788178245300).
Bikash Sarma is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, Salesian College Siliguri Campus. He has published in reputed journals on issues broadly concerning geographical thoughts on 19th century Assam.
In social theory space is represented as an inert domain where progress of the society is inscribed through time and thus history. Chetan Singh in the book (a collection of fourteen essays) under review gently guides the readers with this philosophical question with a subsequent critique of this ontological and epistemological position. Space in this theoretical proposition does not exist independent to our knowledge and perception of it. Space is socially produced. Any spatial unit be it region or territory is not just a “theatrical stage” of historical transformations but is produced out of the dwellers relations with space. Singh focus on Western Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh not only to understand how environment structured human activity but how aspects of history, religion and culture were incorporated in the social and ecological whole. The social space is constitutive of the “rational organisation of material life” or the profane and the superstitious beliefs of cultural life or the sacred.
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Vivek Chibber: Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital
By George Thadathil
Book Reviews
Salesian Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Vol. IX, No. 1 (May 2018)
ISSN: 0976-1861 | DOI: 10.51818/SJHSS.09.2018.103-106 | Page No: 103-106| Section: Book Reviews
Book Reviews: Post Colonial Theory and the Specter of Capital | 103
Vivek Chibber, Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital, (London: Verso, 2013), pp.306, $29.95 ISBN: 978-1-84467-976-8, Paperback.
George Thadathil is presently the Principal of Salesian College, Sonada, Darjeeling and its Siliguri Campus. Besides teaching and administration, he is engaged in coordinating the research projects of the various departments of the college engaging the scholars of the region of North Bengal and Darjeeling where he has been serving the cause of education for the past 25 years. He has authored and edited seven books and published over thirty articles in journals and as chapters in edited volumes. He is also the series editor of Salesian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, in its eighth year and the founder-director of the Salesian Research and Translation Centre.
This review would like to revisit the recent story of a position and an anti position in the socio-economic history of India that came to academic discourse of prominence in the last few decades. These reflections are drawn from the reading of the 9 plus volumes of subaltern history project that we have read and the more recent reading of the Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital by Vivek Chibber (2013). History of thought is a history of contradiction of thought. Ideas have ruled the world and ideas have also helped crumple empires and principalities of the world too. The emergence of an idea into an ideology and a way of life and the counter emergence of an alternative and its expansion into a way of life marks the progress or digress or culmination of history. Books that critique the prevailing wisdom in the academia, itself the outcome of hard won labour into history and archaeology, nature and its evolution, people and their movements, critique and counter critique of texts is difficult to come by and Vivek Chibber’s Postcolonial Theory and the Specter of Capital is one such.
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