Nature Beyond Borders: Science, Society and Ecology in Contemporary India
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, April 2, 2013 | 4:00PM - 6:00PM | The Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility, 'Munk Centre For International Studies - 1 Devonshire Place |
Series
B.N. Pandey Memorial Lecture 2012/2013
Description
India is at crossroads in more ways than one. Even with the present slow down, the last three decades have seen unprecedented levels of economic growth even as it is one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. Even as new opportunities beckon for some, new pressures on water, air, soil and the ecosystems they are intrinsically a part of make it imperative to plan better for the future.
The webs of life on land and water that enable repair and renewal are under enormous strain, and the attendant issues figure prominently in the media and the market place, the courts and the legislatures, in the press and on the streets. How the relationship of ecology and equity, democracy and development will unfold will be an issue of central relevance in this our new century.
While there is reason for concern, there are grounds for hope, especially due to new and more innovative approaches that draw on scientific insight but address issues of a life with dignity especially for those who rely on nature for a living. Keeping those landscapes alive is as vital to a billion people as to the 500 mammals and 25000 flowering plants that share this piece of earth. Neither past nor the present offer magic solutions but they do provide ground for promising beginnings. Making space for nature in a way that democracy matters: this is the challenge and the way forward.
Mahesh Rangarajan is Director, the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi and Professor of Modern Indian History, University of Delhi. He read for a BA in History with Honours at Hindu College, Delhi and was Rhodes scholar at Balliol and Nuffield Colleges, Oxford for a MA and PhD in Modern History. His most recent books include the co-edited Environmental History as if Nature Existed (2010), Making Conservation Work (2007) and an edited Reader, Environmental Issues in India (2007). Forthcoming are a collection of essays, Nature and Nation (2013) and the co-edited Shifting Landscapes, People, Mobility, Animals in India’s Environmental Pasts. Professor Rangarajan has also been a political analyst and commentator on current affairs and ecological issues. In 2010, he chaired the Elephant Task Force of the Government of India. Form 2008-12 he was an expert member of the Forest Advisory Committee.
The lecture will be followed by reception.
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