Divided Lands/Divided Lives: An Environmental History of South Asia
JSIS A / HSTAS 303
Instructor: Dr. Aditya Ramesh
Figure 1 Chipko Movement in the Himalayan foothills
Introduction
‘Airpocalypse’ or ‘Toxi-city’ have become commonplace headlines in South Asian newspapers and digital news outlets, as eight out of the world’s top ten cities with the worst air quality are now located in South Asia. The course traces how South Asia’s unique contemporary environmental problems, that now affect the largest population in the world, were fundamentally shaped through histories of colonialism and postcolonial state development. We understand why and how some of the most critical debates on the environment, whether on colonialism or social movements, emerged from South Asia. Moving through forests, rivers, and cities, we see how the imprint of British colonialism and postcolonial nation-building was deeply felt in South Asia. Alongside, we explore how identity – race, gender, caste, and indigeneity were closely linked to environmental transformations.
This is designed as an intermediary course that will familiarise students with the context of the South Asian environment as well as several of the critical debates that have shaped environmental history in South Asia and beyond. The emphasis will be on rehearsing not only the distinct conceptual and theoretical aspects of South Asian environmental history but, significantly as well, survey the rich and complex socio-ecological worlds that have been revealed through environmental writing on South Asia. The course will connect South Asia’s past to more contemporary times, where multiple environmental crises envelop the region including floods, air pollution, large-scale natural resource extraction, and of course climate change.
Course Goals:
Given that the environmental question has become central to discussions about sustainability and climate change, this course will help students understand the unique histories of ecological change in South Asia. It will not only enable students to grasp the epochal and often times dramatic environmental transformations that continue to shape contemporary South Asia. The course also brings to light the complicated pathways of colonialism, modernity, and development.
- Understand how British colonialism and its vast empire transformed the South Asian environment
- Understand how the complex environmental past of South Asia has import implications on the present
- Appreciate the potentials, pitfalls, and dangers of environmental activism in South Asia
Assessment
- Participation: 15%. You will assessed on not on simply being present, but contributing to discussions, presenting your viewpoint, and being generous to your peers.
- Concept definition: 10%, What is the colonial watershed thesis? Explain using an example [2 pages]. This is a concept I will explain in the lectures quite clearly. You simply have to understand, read the slides, and elucidate using an example.
- Places and events: 15% Twice during the quarter. This assignment will combine your knowledge of a particular place in the Indian sub-continent, with an event that is significant to the environment. This could for instance be a flood, famine, or earthquake. Your write-up might include a primary source, representing a viewpoint on the event in a place, and then critically analysing it.
- Current events reports: 20% Twice during the quarter, you will need to find a news article about a present-day environmental topic in South Asia related to the required and additional readings for the week. Examine the present day subject you pick in detail, and use the required and additional readings to reflect on its history [500 words]. During some of the class meetings, a student will be asked to introduce an article for class discussion.
- Final essay: 40%. Essay can be focused on any one of the weeks, or a subject across the weeks. We will discuss and narrow down essay subjects in weeks 5 & 6. The essay can be on a moment, a movement, a natural resource, or an environmentalist. For instance, you can write an essay on forestry in British India, and you might well focus on Adivasi or tribal identity. You can also write an essay on environmental thought and Mahatma Gandhi.
Textbooks and Review Essays
You are not required to purchase any of the textbooks, but you can pick them up from the library if you want a bird’s eye view of the subject. Review essays are very useful to read. They give you a sense of the key debates that we will engage with in the classroom and point you in the direction of any further reading that you might want to do. You can also read longer books, and I have recommended one here, but there is no real need.
Mann, Michael, “Environmental History and Historiography on South Asia: Context and Some Recent Publications”, South Asia Chronicle, vol. 3 2013.
Sumit Guha, Ecologies of Empire in South Asia, 1400-1900 (University of Washington Press 2022)
Christopher Hill, South Asia: An Environmental History (Santa Barbara and Oxford: ABC-CLIO, 2008).
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Week 1 – Introduction and background
Rohan D’Souza, “Environmental History of South Asia in the Time of Hindutva,” 27:4 Environmental History (2022): 625-633
Unfit for habitation: Life in Chennai’s industrial badlands | Carbon Copy
Week 2 – ‘The Great Victorian Holocausts’: Famines in South Asia
Mike Davis,
David Arnold, “Social Crisis and Epidemic Disease in the Famines of Nineteenth-century India,” Social History of Medicine 6: 3 (December 1993), 385–404, https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/6.3.385
Films and clips we will watch in class:
INDIA: DISASTERS: US food mission visits famine hit areas (1946) (youtube.com)
Week 3 – Forests, Colonialism, and Identity
Mahesh Rangarjan, “Animals with rich histories: the case of the lions of Gir Forest, Gujarat, India,” History and Theory, 52 (2013): 109-127. https://doi.org/10.1111/hith.10690
Ajay Skaria, “Shades of Wildness Tribe, Caste, and Gender in Western India.” The Journal of Asian Studies 56, no. 3 (1997): 726–45. https://doi.org/10.2307/2659607.
Week 4 – Watery landscapes of South Asia
Camelia Dewan, Misreading the Bengal Delta: Climate Change, Development, and Livelihoods in Coastal Bangladesh (University of Washington Press 2021), Chapter 2 [21-48]. Open Access at https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/50931/9780295749624.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
David Gilmartin, Blood and Water: The Indus River Basin in Modern History (University of California Press 2020), Chapter six [The River Basin and Partition, 182-198]
Week 5 – The Environment of the South Asian City
Debjani Bhattacharya, Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta (Cambridge University Press 2019), Chapter 1 [Power and Silt, 45-76]
Awadhendhra Sharan, “In the City, out of Place: Environment and Modernity, Delhi 1860s to 1960s.” Economic and Political Weekly 41: 47 (2006): 4905–11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4418951.
Week 6 – Following Fish
Tamara Fernando, “Seeing Like the Sea: A Multispecies History of the Ceylon Pearl Fishery 1800–1925, Past & Present 254:1 (February 2022): 127–160, https://doi.org/10.1093/pastj/gtab002
Film: Fishing Palk Bay - (7) Fishing Palk Bay - YouTube
Primary Source: James Hornell, “The Chank Shell Cult of India.” Antiquity 16:62 (1942): 113–33. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00017580.
Week 7 - ‘Environmentalisms’ in South Asia
Ramachandra Guha, “Mahatma Gandhi and the environmental movement in India,’ Capitalism Nature Socialism 6:3 (1995): 47-61, DOI: 10.1080/10455759509358641
Amita Baviskar, Nation’s body, river’s pulse: Narratives of anti-dam politics in India. Thesis Eleven 150:1 (2019): 26–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513618822417
Film: A Narmada Diary. - YouTube
Week 8 – ‘Environmentalisms’ in South Asia II
Arundhati Roy, “The Greater Common Good,” [Up on Canvas]
Gail Omvedt, “An Open Letter to Arundhati Roy,” Roundtable India An Open Letter To Arundhati Roy – Round Table India
Shekhar Pathak, The Chipko Movement: A People's History (Permanent Black 2020), Introduction
Film: Dam/Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlyZofTmUO4
Week 9 – ‘The most polluted place on earth’: air in South Asia
Asher Ghertner, “Postcolonial Atmospheres: Air’s Coloniality and the Climate of Enclosure, Annals of the American Association of Geographers,” 111:5, (2021):1483-1502, DOI: 10.1080/24694452.2020.1823201
Awadhendhra Sharan, DUST AND SMOKE: AIR POLLUTION AND COLONIAL URBANISM, INDIA, e.1860-c.1940 (Orient Blackswan 2022), 1-30 [Introduction]
Film: Shaunak Sen, All that breathes
Week 10 – ‘No More Bhopal’s’: Disasters and Nationalism
“The Bhopal gas tragedy 1984 to? The evasion of corporate responsibility,” Environment and Urbanization 14:1 (April 2022): https://doi.org/10.1177/095624780201400108
Primary source: Shastri, Lalit, Bhopal disaster : an eye witness account (1985 New Delhi)
Film: The Railway Men, Netflix (to watch in class)
Further Reading:
Arnold, David and R. Guha, eds, Nature, Culture, Imperialism: Essays on Environmental History of South Asia, OUP, Delhi, 1995.
Bavisker, Amita, In the Belly of the River: Tribal Conflict in the Narmada Valley, OUP, Delhi, 1995.
Dangwal, Dhirendra Datt, Himalayan Degradation: Colonial Forestry and Environmental Change in India, CUP (Foundation Imprint), Delhi, 2009.
Gadgil, Madav and Ramachandra Guha, This Fissured Land, OUP, Delhi, 1992.Grove,
Richard H. Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Eden and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860, OUP, Delhi, 1995.
Guha, R. and Gadgil, ‘State Forestry and Social Conflict in British India’, Past and Present, vol. 123 (1989)
.Guha, R., ‘An Early Environmental Debate in India: Making of the 1878 Forest Act’, in Indian Economic and Social History Review, (IESHR) vol. 27 (1990)
Guha, R., ‘Forestry in British and Post-British India: A Historical Analysis’, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), Oct-Nov 1983.
Guha, R., The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalaya, Permanent Black, Delhi, 2009 (20th year edition).Habib, Irfan, Man and Environment, Tulika, 2011.
Moosvi, Shireen, People, Taxation and Trade in Mughal India, OUP, Delhi, 2008.
Rangarajan, Mahesh, India’s Wildlife History: An Introduction, Permanent Black, 2001.
Thaper, Romila, ‘Perceiving the Forests: Early India’, Studies in History (SIH), 17, 1 (2001)
Agnihotri, Indu, ‘Ecology, Land Use and Colonization: The Canal Colonies of Punjab’, IESHR, 33, 1(1996).
Agrawal, Arun, Environmentality, OUP, Delhi, 2003.
Agrawal, Arun and K. Sivaramakrishnan, Social Nature: Resource, Representation and Rule in India, OUP. Delhi, 2001.
D’Souza, Rohan, Drowned and Dammed, OUP, Delhi, 2006.
Gadgil M. and R. Guha, Ecology and Equity, Penguin, 1995.
Grove, Richard, Vineeta Damodaran and Satpal Sangwan, eds, Nature and the Orient: Essays on Environmental History of South and Southeast Asia, OUP, Delhi, 1998.
Guha, R. and Juan Alier-Martinez, Varieties of Environmentalism, Earthscan, London, 1997.
Guha, R., ‘The authoritarian Biologist and the arrogance of anti-Humanism’, Ecologists, 1997, pp. 14-20.
Guha, Summit, Ethnicity and Environment in Western India, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 1999.
Khan, Shahmullah, ‘State of Vegetation and Agricultural Productivity: Pargana Haveli Ahmadabad’, SIH, 13, 2 (1998), pp. 313-24.
Kumar, Deepak et al, British Empire and Natural World, OUP, Delhi, 2010.
Prasad, Archana, ‘The Baiga: Survival Strategies and Local Economy in Colonial Central Provinces’, in SIH, 13, 2(1998), pp. 325-48.
Prasad, A., ed., Environment, Development and Society in Contemporary India, Macmillan, Delhi, 2008.
Prasher-Sen, Aloka ‘Of Tribes, Hunters and Barbarians: Forest Dwellers in Mauryan Period’, SIH, vol. 13, 2(1998), pp. 173-192.
Rajan, R, Modernizing Nature: Forestry and Imperial Eco-Development 1800-1950, Orient Longman, 2007.
Rangan, H., Of Myths and Movements: Rewriting Chipko in the Himalayan History, OUP, Delhi, 2001.
Rangarajan, Fencing the Forest: Conservation and Ecological Change in India’s Central Provinces, 1860-1914, OPU, Delhi, 1996.
Rangarajan, M. and Vasant Saberwal, eds, Battle over Nature, Permanent Black, 2006.
Rangarajan, M., Environmental Issues in India: A Reader, Pearson, Paperback, 2006
Rangarajan, M. and K. Sivaramakrishnan, India’s Environmental History, Permanent Black, Delhi, 2011.
Rangarajan, M, ‘The Raj and the natural world: The war against the ‘dangerous beast’ in colonial India’, SIH, 1998, pp 265-300.
Saikia, Aroopjyoti, Forest and Ecological History of Assam, OUP, Delhi,
2010.Sengupta, Nirmal, ‘The Indigenous Irrigation Organisation of South Bihar’, IESHR, 17, 2 (1980), pp. 157-89.
Sinha Kapur, Nandini, Environmental History of Early India, OUP, Delhi, 2011.
Sivaramakrishnan, K., Modern Forests: Statemaking and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1999.
Sivaramakrishnan, K. and Gunnel Cederlof, Ecological Nationalism, Permanent Black, 2009.Trivedi, K. K., ‘Estimating Forests, Waste and Fields, c. 1600’, SIH, 13, 2(1998), pp. 301-12.
|
Faculty mailboxes are located in 318 Smith. T.A. mailboxes are located in Smith 315, but these boxes are not secure and are only available when the office is open, M – F, 8:30 – noon, 1 – 5. Papers, notes, etc. for T.A.s should instead be delivered to T.A. offices or given to T.A.s after class. |
Covid-19 Expectations and Recommendations
- FAQ for students on Covid: https://www.washington.edu/coronavirus/student-faq/
- Guidelines for Covid flowchart: https://www.ehs.washington.edu/resource/covid-19-public-health-flowchart-updated-61223-1175
Student Resources in Times of Need
We understand that with student life and possible health issues, there are emotional stresses and strains. We have compiled a list of helpful resources, and we encourage you to reach out to our advisers, to your instructors, and to your peers for additional support. https://history.washington.edu/student-resources-times-need
Plagiarism & Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct, such as unauthorized collaboration, cheating on exams, and plagiarism, is prohibited at UW and may result in disciplinary action. Here is more information.
Plagiarism is a form of academic misconduct at UW. It is defined as the use of creations, ideas, or words of publicly available work without formally acknowledging the author or source through appropriate use of quotation marks, references, and the like. Along with the University of Washington, the Department of History takes plagiarism very seriously. Plagiarism may lead to disciplinary action by the University against the student who submitted the work. Any student who is uncertain whether their use of the work of others constitutes plagiarism should consult the course instructor for guidance before submitting coursework. Disciplinary action on your school record can affect admission to graduate or professional schools.
The unauthorized use of artificial intelligence (AI) is a form of academic misconduct at UW. Tools that use AI and large language models to generate text or images, such as ChatGPT, GPT4, Bing Chat, and "Write with AI" in Google Docs (the "help me write" feature now in beta testing in Workspace Labs), are generally prohibited in the Department of History courses at the University of Washington. Unless your instructor has expressly permitted the use of such tools, they are prohibited. The unpermitted use of such tools constitutes academic misconduct according to University policy and may result in serious disciplinary action.
Incompletes
An incomplete is considered only when the student has been in attendance and has done satisfactory work until within two weeks of the end of the quarter and has furnished proof satisfactory to the instructor that the work cannot be completed because of illness or other circumstances beyond the student's control.
Grading Procedures
Except in case of error, no instructor may change a grade that they have turned in to the Registrar. Grades cannot be changed after a degree has been granted.
Grade Appeal Procedure
A student who believes they have been improperly graded must first discuss the matter with the instructor. If the student is not satisfied with the instructor's explanation, the student, no later than ten days after their discussion with the instructor, may submit a written appeal to the Chair of the Department of History with a copy of the appeal also sent to the instructor. Within 10 calendar days, the Chair consults with the instructor to ensure that the evaluation of the student's performance has not been arbitrary or capricious. Should the Chair believe the instructor's conduct to be arbitrary or capricious and the instructor declines to revise the grade, the Chair, with the approval of the voting members of their faculty, shall appoint an appropriate member, or members, of the faculty of the Department of History to evaluate the performance of the student and assign a grade. The Dean and Provost should be informed of this action. Once a student submits a written appeal, this document and all subsequent actions on this appeal are recorded in written form for deposit in a Department of History file.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is defined as the use of one’s authority or power, either explicitly or implicitly, to coerce another into
unwanted sexual relations or to punish another for their refusal to engage in sexual acts. It is also defined as the creation by a member of the University community of an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or educational environment through verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
If you are being harassed, seek help—the earlier the better. You may speak with your instructor, your teaching assistant, History Undergraduate Advising, the Department’s Director of Academic Services (Smith 315A) or the Chair of the Department (Smith 308). In addition, the Office of the Ombud (206 543-6028) is a University resource for all students, faculty and staff. Community Standards and Student Conduct Office (cssc@uw.edu) is a resource for students.
Equal Opportunity
The University of Washington reaffirms its policy of equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, citizenship, sexual orientation, age, marital status, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or status as a protected veteran. This policy applies to all programs and facilities, including, but not limited to, admissions, educational programs, employment, and patient and hospital services. An discriminatory action can be a cause for disciplinary action.
Religious Accommodations
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).
Access and Accommodations
Your experience in this class is important to us. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to us at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.
If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), you are welcome to contact DRS at 206-543-8924 or uwdrs@uw.edu or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions. Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s) and DRS. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.
Department of History Diversity Committee
The Department of History Diversity Committee initiates and facilitates an ongoing conversation about diversity, proposes measures to address institutional disparities, and also serves as a confidential resource for students, staff, and faculty who have concerns related to climate and diversity. Any member of the department's learning and working community may contact the committee with concerns and questions. https://history.washington.edu/diversity-resources
Standards of Conduct and Academic Integrity: (see WAC 478-121-020)
The following abilities and behavioral expectations complement the UW Student Conduct Code. All students need to demonstrate the following behaviors and abilities:
Communication: All students must communicate effectively with other students, faculty, staff, and other professionals within the Department of History. Students must attempt to express ideas and feelings clearly and demonstrate a willingness and ability to give and receive feedback. All students must be able to reason, analyze, integrate, synthesize, and evaluate in the context of the class. Students must be able to evaluate and apply information and engage in critical thinking in the classroom and professional setting.
Behavioral/Emotional: Students must demonstrate the emotional maturity required for the adequate utilization of intellectual abilities, the exercise of sound judgment, and the timely completion of responsibilities in the class. Further, students must be able to maintain mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with students, faculty, staff, and other professionals while engaging in the class and within the Department of History. Students must have the emotional stability to function effectively in the classroom.
Students must be able and willing to examine and change behaviors when they interfere with productive individual or team
relationships.
Problematic behavior documented: Problematic behavior will be documented by the Department and if deemed appropriate forwarded on to Community Standards and Student Conduct. If a pattern of behavior or a single, serious lapse in the behavioral expectations becomes evident, the steps below will be followed so that the student is
apprised of a warning indicating that the student’s continuation in the class and/or major is in jeopardy. The student’s
instructor and/or appropriate program advisor or teaching assistant will document, either verbally or in writing, the concerning behavior and notify the student that they are receiving a warning. Notification of the warning will be forwarded on to the Chair of the Department and Student Conduct and Community Standards via email or in hard copy. The warning identifies what the concerning behavior was and that any further disruptions or concerning incidents will result in the student being asked to leave the class. When incidents occur that represent a significant impact to the program or its participants, students may be asked to leave immediately without prior warning.
Safety and Evacuation
Evacuation routes are posted throughout the building. In case of a fire, please evacuate and go to the evacuation assembly point, locations of which are posted on building walls. In case of a power outage or earthquake, please stay where you are and, for the latter, protect your head and neck. Students with disabilities which could impair evacuation should notify the instructor early in the quarter so accommodations can be made.
Concerns about a course, an instructor, or a teaching assistant
Instructors
If you have any concerns about the course or the instructor in charge of the course, please see the instructor about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the instructor or not satisfied with the response that you receive, contact the Department of History’s Director of Academic Services, Tracy Maschman Morrissey, in Smith 315A. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive from Tracy, make an appointment with the Assistant to the Chair in Smith 308B to speak with the Chair.
TAs
If you have any concerns about the teaching assistant, please see them about these concerns as soon as possible. If you are not comfortable talking with the teaching assistant or not satisfied with the response that you receive, contact the instructor in charge of the course. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, you may follow the procedure previously outlined, or contact the Graduate School in G-1 Communications.
Rev. September 2023