1. Any discourse on environmental movements in India is incomplete without analysing the role of women in it. Comment.

Approach:

♤ Elaborate on the basics of environmental movements in India. Then argue how, access to natural resources is central to Women’s lives in India, which is the basis of environmental movements in India.

♤ Further, an analysis could be given of CHIPKO movement, which is indeed the starting of environmental movements in post-independent India. Conclude w.r.t. the birth of ecofeminism in India.

Answer: [Student Note: Answer has been kept long to discuss the issue in detail.]

♤ Environmental movement is a “diverse scientific, social and political movement for addressing environmental issues.”

♤ Environmental movements in developing countries are struggles of the dispossessed, the marginalized, the victims of discrimination, among whom can be counted women, tribal and the non-commercial farmers.

♤ Reasons for the movement are control over natural resources; resistance offered by ecosystem people to the resource capture by omnivorous; environmental degradation; socio-economic reasons (tribal issues).

♤ Hence, any discourse on environmental movements in developing countries cannot be complete without understanding how they are related to livelihood issues & its gendered context. This is in contrast to the discussions on environment conservation in developed countries which often revolves around the issues of quality of life, animal rights etc.

♤ Women have direct contact with natural resources like fuel, food and fodder, forest, water and land especially in rural areas where 70% of Indian population reside and directly dependent upon natural resources. Women are also responsible for using these resources to satisfy the basic needs of their families.

♤ Women have given different perspective to the environmental issues due to their different experience base. They view the issue in a broad and holistic manner aiming at long term benefits of subsistence and survival as against short term commercial gains.

♤ Therefore, conservation of natural resources and promotion of environment cannot be done without involving the women in planning and training for promoting the values for conservation and promotion of environment.

♤ The emergence of the Indian environmental movement can perhaps be dated to 1973, when the famous Chipko movement began in the central Himalayas. The Chipko movement emerged as a protest against granting of permission for access to the forests to commercial timber operators, while the local people were refused access to the forests for making agricultural implements.

♤ The movement which spread rapidly to other villages saw the active involvement of women. They worked jointly with the men of their community, and in some cases even against them, when they differed with them over the use of forest resources. Women were more concerned with the long-term gain of saving the forests and environment, and hence, subsistence and survival issues, rather than short-term gain through commercial projects like monoculture forests, potato-seed farms, etc.

♤ The scope of the movement broadened and involved issues of male alcoholism,

domestic violence, women’s representation in village councils, as well as against

mining in the hills. It helped women recognize the inter-connections between nature and human sustenance. The movement was carried forward largely by women using Gandhian techniques of protest.

♤ It was just the beginning, which was followed by several other movements such as Green Belt movement in 1977 (planting trees), Appiko movement (hugging the trees) , Narmada Bachao Aandolan etc. which saw significant participation of women at all levels.

♤ We need to analyze women’ s interaction with nature and their responses to environmental degradation with respect to the material reality of gender, caste, class and race based division of labor, property and power. It is the poor, lower class and lower caste, and within them, the peasant and tribal women, who are worst, affected and hence, they are the most active in the protests. Women are victims of environmental degradation as well as active agents in the regeneration and protection of the environment. The adverse class-gender effects of these processes are reflected in the erosion of indigenous knowledge systems and livelihood strategies on which poor, rural women depend.

♤ The history of environmental movements in India shows that women have bear the major brunt of environmental degradation & hence have also been the first ones to spearhead conservation movements from Chipko to the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

♤ Moreover the strong connection between women and the issues of the environment led to the emergence of the concept of ecofeminism. The term which grew out of the various social movements that were occurring all over the world involves the concept of feminism, peace and the ecology and signifies the role of women in environmental conservation.