TWO KINDS OF ENVIRONMENTALISMBY

RAM CHANDRA GUHA

• Ramachandra Guha(b, 1958) is an Indian historian and writer whose research interests include environmental, social, political and cricket history. He has taught at various universities in India, Europe and North America. He received the Padama Bhushan award in January 2009

Origin of Environmentalism

NORTH/The USA• After industrialization • Preservation of Nature

SOUTH/INDIA• During industrial process• Nature-based conflicts

Nature made accessible through car

Opportunities for leisure

• Reasons for nature-based conflict:• Lopsided, iniquitous and environmentally

destructive process of development.• Results of this type of development:Drying up of springsDecimation of forest Erosion of the land Environment Action is taken by Traditional Networks of Organization: The

village and the tribe Methods of Protest: Dharna and Bhook

hartal

South/India

• Traditional networks of organization- Villages & Tribe

• Believes in traditional forms of protest- dharna & bhook hartal

• Originates from the clash over productive recourses .

• It strives for survival and subsistence of the peasants & the tribes by changing the system of production & distribution.

• Activist: Medha Patkhar, Narmada Bachao Andoland .

North/The USA

• Social movement organization-Sierra Club/Friends of the Earth

• Believes in democratic form of redressal – lobbying & Litigation

• Originates outside the productive process . It runs parallel to the consumer society.

• It strives for change of attitudes towards the natural world.

• There are two types of movement: wilderness movement & environmental justice movement.

• Activist: Mark Dubois, Stanislaus River , California.

Two types of environmentalism in the North Wilderness Movement • It focuses on the health of the

planet- the wilderness, forests & oceans that cannot protect themselves.

Environmental justice movement• It is concerned with the

environmental hazards and social and economical inequalities faced by the poor(black community)

• As a co-founder of Friends of the River and the International Rivers Network, Mark Dubois has long been a leader in river conservation. In 1979, he captured national headlines when he chained himself to the bedrock of the Stanislaus River Canyon as a new reservoir filled. While his action forced only a temporary reprieve for the Stanislaus, the growing movement to protect rivers brought a halt to major dam building in the United States.

Mark Dubois

The Stanislaus River Canyon

• Medha Patkar (born 1 December 1954) is an Indian social activist and social reformer turned politician. She is the founder member of Narmada Bachao Andolan and was National Convener of National Alliance of People's Movements(NAPM), an alliance of progressive people's organisations.[1] She was a representative to the World Commission on Dams, to research the environmental, social and economic impacts of the development of large dams globally.

American Environmentalist

• Mark Dubois• Stanislaus River, California• Associated with ‘Friends of the

River’.• Protested the construction of

New Melons dam • Chained himself to a boulder in

the Stanislaus River. • Wanted to save the marine life

and the natural beauty of the canyon .

• ‘No Humanity without Nature’

Indian Environmentalist • Medha Patkar• Narmada River• Associated with Narmada

Bachao Andolan • Protest the construction of

Sardar Sarovar dam.• Decided to drown herself in the

Narmada River. • Wanted to save the poor

people who lived by the Narmada River.

• No Nature without Social Justice

• THANK YOU

NOOR NIGARAssistant Professor

SSMRV Degree College