Contesting Conservation

The first academic work on the banning of shahtoosh wool trade in Kashmir, and first systematic account of joint forest management in the Jammu and Kashmir region in India

Provides an application of political ecology approach in conflict regions

Analyzes the debates around the possibilities for 'sustainable development' and 'sustainable livelihoods' in depth

Unfolds the politics of nature conservation between different stakeholders involved at multiple levels global to local

Introduces two new concepts/processes: 'delegated illegality' and 'split role' of the state

Touches upon sensitive issues such as illegal timber and shawl trade, contributing to the emerging literature on illegality and corruption in nature conservation

Autorentext
Saloni Gupta's research interests include political ecology, sociology of work, development sociology and cultural studies. She holds a master's degree in Sociology from the University of Jammu, India, and a PhD in Development Studies from the University of London, UK, for which she received a Commonwealth Fellowship. She has conducted extensive fieldwork in India on issues related to wildlife and forest conservation, and has taught courses on environmental sociology, globalisation and development studies at universities in India, the UK and Germany. She is currently working as an independent researcher in India.

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Introduction.- 1. Wildlife and forest conservation in J&K: an introduction.- 2. Political ecology: approaches and analytical framework.- 3. Theoretical positioning.- 4. Contesting conservation: what this study contributes.- 5. Chapter layout.- Chapter 2: Jammu and Kashmir: contextualising conservation in specific sites.- 1.1. Jammu and Kashmir: an introduction.- 1.2. Field locations.- 2.1. Ethnography of conservation interventions.- 2.2. Description of fieldwork.- 2.3. Research in the context of violent conflict.- Chapter 3: Tibetan Antelope and Shahtoosh Shawl: a brief history.- 1.1. Chiru and its habitat.- 1.2. The shahtoosh wool: myths and realities.- 2.1. From raw wool to finished shawl: the production process.- 2.2. Shahtoosh workers: population and distribution.- 3.1. Origin and development of the shawl industry.- 3.2. Marginalisation and exploitation of the shawl workers: pre-independence.- 3.3. Shahtoosh workers and the new state: post-independence.- 4. Conclusion.-Chapter 4: The Ban on Shahtoosh: sustainability for whom?.- 1.1. The ban on shahtoosh: a chronology of events.- 1.2. The prospects of chiru farming: observations of the 'expert group'.- 2.1. Weak enforcement and split role of the state.- 2.2. Shawl workers response to the ban: protest and politics.- 3.1. The trade continues: illegality and shadow networks of shahtoosh.- 3.2. Militancy and shahtoosh: exploring the connections.- 4.Conclusion.- Chapter 5: The Micropolitics of the Ban on Shahtoosh: costs and reparations.- 1.1. The origin of wool and the unpopularity of the ban.- 1.2. Different categories, differential impact.- 1.3. Machines and adulteration.- 1.4. Decreasing wages, increasing prices: strategies of labour exploitation and control.- 1.5. Declining social prestige and cultural heritage.- 2. Rehabilitation and alternative livelihoods: accountability of whom?.- 3. Conclusion.- Chapter 6: Forests, State and People: a historical account of forest management andcontrol in J&K.- 1. Forest management in early colonial period.- 2. Local access versus commercial needs: the politics of scientific forestry in the late colonial period.- 3. National interests versus local needs: the politics of forest management in the post-colonial period.- 4. Conclusion.- Chapter 7: Joint Management of Forests and Split Role of the State: the politics of forest conservation in J&K.- 1. Joint management of forests: new arenas of 'partnership' and 'participation'.- 2. Setting the scene: interplay between centre, state and non-state actors.- 3.1. Navni and Chinnora: a brief introduction.- 3.2. Our forests, their timber: the politics of resource control.- 3.3. Split role of the field-staff: forest regulations vis-a-vis local needs.- 4. Conclusion.- Chapter 8: The Micropolitics of Forest Use and Control: new spaces for cooperation and conflict.- 1.1. From centralisation to decentralisation: doblockages disappear?.- 1.2. Panchayat and JFMC: conflicting powers and functions.- 2. Increased biomass, reduced access.- 3. Illegal timber felling: what if fence eats the grass?.- 4. Conclusion.- Chapter 9: On Conservation Politics: cooperation, conflicts and contestations .- 1. Power as dispersed and fluid.- 2. Between cooperation and conflict: spaces for contestation.- 3. Who is accountable?.- 4. Policy implications.- 5. Conclusion.- Bibliography.