Indigenous Economics


Book Description

What does “development” mean for Indigenous peoples? Indigenous Economics lays out an alternative path showing that conscious attention to relationships among humans and the natural world creates flourishing social-ecological economies. Economist Ronald L. Trosper draws on examples from North and South America, Aotearoa/New Zealand, and Australia to argue that Indigenous worldviews centering care and good relationships provide critical and sustainable economic models in a world under increasing pressure from biodiversity loss and climate change. He explains the structure of relational Indigenous economic theory, providing principles based on his own and others’ work with tribal nations and Indigenous communities. Trosper explains how sustainability is created at every level when relational Indigenous economic theory is applied—micro, meso, and macro. Good relationships support personal and community autonomy, replacing the individualism/collectivism dichotomy with relational leadership and entrepreneurship. Basing economies on relationships requires changing governance from the top-down approaches of nation-states and international corporations; instead, each community creates its own territorial relationships, creating plurinational relational states. This book offers an important alternative to classic economic theory. In Indigenous Economics, support for Indigenous communities’ development and Indigenous peoples’ well-being go hand-in-hand. Publication of this book is made possible in part by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science.




Creating Private Sector Economies in Native America


Book Description

Looks at the underdevelopment of the private sector on American Indian reservations, with the goal of sustaining and growing Native nation communities.




Our Common Future


Book Description




Environmental History and Tribals in Modern India


Book Description

This monograph presents a comprehensive account of environmental history of India and its tribals from the late eighteenth onwards, covering both the colonial and post-colonial periods. The book elaborately discusses the colonial plunder of forest resources up to the introduction of the Forest Act (1878) and focuses on how colonial policy impacted on the Indian environment, opening the floodgates of forest resources plunder, primarily for timber and to establish coffee and tea plantations. The book argues that even after the advent of conservation initiatives, commercial exploitation of forests continued unabated while stringent restrictions were imposed on the tribals, curtailing their access to the jungles. It details how post-colonial governments and populist votebank politics followed the same commercial forest policy till the 1980s without any major reform, exploiting forest resources and also encroaching upon forest lands, pushing the self-sustainable tribal economy to crumble. The book offers a comprehensive account of India’s environmental history during both colonial and post-colonial times, contributing to the current environmental policy debates in Asia.




Habitat, Ecology and Ekistics


Book Description

This volume uses an innovative and interdisciplinary approach to assess various issues resulting from human-environment interactions in relation to sustainable development. The book encompasses theoretical and applied aspects, using both thematic and regional case studies from India, to highlight the impact of human-environment interactions at various spatio-temporal scales, with each study focusing on a particular anthropogenic issue, particularly in an Indian context. The book's three focal themes (e.g. habitat linkages, ekistics and social ecology, hazard and environmental management) elaborate the essential components of human-environment interactions with nature, its impact on the surrounding natural and social environments, and management techniques through research innovations. Readers will learn how maladjustments, disturbances and disasters are often inevitable byproducts of human-environment systems, and what conceptual and practical strategies can be applied towards sustainable coexistence. The book will be of interest to students, academics and policymakers engaged in environmental management, human-environment interactions and sustainable development.




Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Development


Book Description

"The present volume is an outcome of a national seminar organized by the Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society, Lucknow in October 1999"--Pref.




Livelihood Enhancement Through Agriculture, Tourism and Health


Book Description

Agriculture is the backbone of our economic system. It provides not only food and raw material but also employment opportunities to a very large number of people. Higher atmospheric temperature has an impact on crop yields while the changes in rainfall could affect both crop quality and quantity. Climate change, therefore, could increase the prices of major crops in some regions. For the most vulnerable people, lower agricultural output means lower income. In addition, climate change is expected to increase the risk of illness and death from extreme heat and poor air quality. Recent evidence is the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, climate change also affects the occurrence of other infectious diseases. A number of well-known diseases are climate-sensitive - malaria, dengue fever, and cholera among others. Tourism is considered as an industry and alternative contributor to a nation's income. It can generate employment opportunities and boost up the economy. This book, consisting of 26 chapters, focuses on the issues of agriculture, tourism and health for livelihood enhancement. It is essential to discuss these diverse issues in the field of geography as it encompasses interdisciplinary topics. The range of concerns at the national, regional and local levels is not confined to geography only but also involves other disciplines as well. Therefore, this book is a valuable source for scientists and researchers in allied fields such as livelihood, agriculture, land use, tourism management, health care and tribal studies. Furthermore, this book can be of immense help to the researchers, planners and decision makers engaged in solving problems in these areas in developing countries and beyond.




Policies, Programmes, and Strategies for Tribal Development


Book Description

A plethora of literature is available and various studies have been undertaken on different aspects of tribal development. But very few on the analysis of tribal problems vis-à-vis programmes/policies for their development has remained more or less unexplored. The present study has attempted to plug this critical gap. In this book the author has delved deeper into the genesis of tribal problems, critically examined the programmes for their development in the past and present and offered some valuable insights for lifting them out of the morass of poverty and stagnation. It has traced successive shifts in tribal development policies and strategies at different points of time. A thumbnail picture has been presented on impact of the programmes on the stakeholders through case studies conducted in a remote district of a poverty ridden state. The results of the field study tend to conceptualise that despite input in terms of money and material and the so called coveted efforts and endeavours of public servants, there is an abysmal mismatch between the objectives and achievement. We are still far away from the point of their conscientisation. The study will be of immense academic and practical worth. The comprehensive analysis and critical review presented in this book on an important aspect of tribal development and finally the policy prescriptions suggested make it imperative reading for economists, anthropologists, planners, policy makers, administrators and members of the academic and research organizations.




Ecology, Economy and Society


Book Description

This book deals with not just complex linkages, interactions and exchanges that form the relationship between the economic activities, human society and the ecosystems, but also the influences and impacts that each causes on the other. In recent times, this ecology–economy–society interface has received unprecedented attention within the broader environment–development discourse. The volume is in honour of Kanchan Chopra, one of the pioneers of research in these areas in India. She has recently been awarded the coveted Kenneth Boulding Award by the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE) and is the first Asian to receive it. The four sub-themes of the book reflect some of the important areas in the environment–development discourse — sustainability of development, institutions and environmental governance, environment and well-being, and ecosystem and conservation. Within each of the sub-themes, the policy and the practice as well as the macro and micro aspects are addressed. With contributions mainly from ecological economists and ecologists, the book’s approach is interdisciplinary, both in spirit and content, reflecting the honoree's work, which went not just beyond the mainstream ideology of economics, but also the way she listened to ideas from disciplines like ecology and sociology. The volume also includes two reflective essays on academic life and works of Kanchan Chopra. The book is a valuable resource for students, teachers, researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the areas of development economics, ecological economics, environmental economics and related disciplines such as conservation, development, ecology, economics, environment, governance, health, sociology and public policy.