IDEOLOGIES OF ENVIRONMENTALISM

This section introduces the concept of an environmental movement as organised social activity
promoting sustainable resource use, halting degradation, and environmental restoration. It notes
India's diverse environmental movements involving omnivores, ecosystem people, and
ecological refugees, identifying seven major strands. Two focus on nature conservation: one
aesthetic, recreational, or scientific (represented by the wildlife conservation movement
attracting urban omnivores), and the other based on cultural or religious traditions (illustrated by
the Bishnoi peasants). A third strand centres on the efficiency of resource use from a technocratic
perspective, often involving omnivores in initiatives like land use boards.

The essay then highlights that the dominant strands in the Indian environmental movement
revolve around the question of equity, arising from conflicts between omnivores benefiting
from development and ecosystem people whose livelihoods are undermined. These movements
often involve socially conscious omnivores working with ecosystem people or ecological
refugees. These are termed 'the environmentalism of the poor', contrasting with the
environmentalism of affluence in Western societies. Within this 'environmentalism of the poor',
four broad strands are identified: those emphasizing the moral imperative of justice for the poor
(including Gandhians), those focusing on dismantling the unjust social order through struggle
(primarily Marxists), and two strands emphasizing reconstruction through appropriate
technologies, either from scientists or through the revival of community-based management
systems.

ENVIRONMENTAL STRUGGLES

This section analyses environmental movements through their material, political, and ideological
expressions. The material context is the shortages and struggles over natural resources.
Politically, Indian environmentalism is expressed through the organisation of victims of
environmental degradation by social action groups, including even urban populations affected by
pollution. The essay acknowledges the view of some Western scholars that environmentalism is
primarily an upper-middle-class concern in rich countries, but firmly states that Indian
environmental movements significantly involve the poor and disadvantaged. It then focuses
on the struggles of ecosystem people. Environmental action groups working with these
communities undertake three main initiatives: preventing ecologically destructive economic
practices through organisation and struggle; promoting the environmental message through
media and innovative informal means like walking tours; and implementing environmental
rehabilitation programmes. These actions are largely undertaken by 'non-party political
formations' due to the established political parties often overlooking the link between ecological
degradation and rural poverty. Through struggle, awareness, and constructive work, these action
groups have developed a critique of the development process itself, questioning its biases and
advocating for an ecologically sustainable and socially just alternative.

CREATING AWARENESS
This section discusses the methods used to spread environmental consciousness. Collective
protests and print media coverage have been crucial, with leading activists and sympathetic
journalists playing a role. Since the mid-1970s, there has been a surge in environmental writing
in various publications, including citizens' reports and magazines like Down to Earth. The print
media has been important due to state control over radio and television. However, the
significance of oral communication should not be underestimated, with examples like plays and
folk songs by the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishat and traditional dance-dramas incorporating
environmental themes. 'Eco-development' camps are also used to combine discussion and
practical action. A particularly innovative technique is the padayatra or walking tour, inspired
by Mahatma Gandhi, used to spread environmental messages across long distances, exemplified
by the trans-Himalayan march and the Save the Western Ghats March. These padayatras aimed
to study environmental degradation, activate local groups, and canvass public opinion.
Subsequent marches focused on other vulnerable mountain systems and specific resources like
water, as seen in the Kanyakumari march organised by the National Fisherfolk Forum with the
slogan 'Protect waters, protect life!'. These marches aimed to raise awareness, form networks,
pressure the government for sustainable policies, assess damage, and revive traditional practices.
Despite facing challenges, such as the tragic incident during the Kanyakumari march, these
tactics have been effective in highlighting environmental issues.

ENVIRONMENTAL REHABILITATION

This section focuses on the often less visible but significant programmes of ecological
restoration undertaken by social action groups, addressing the state's limitations in this area.
These groups, sometimes reviving indigenous traditions or influenced by Gandhian constructive
work, religious reform, or international relief organizations, organise villagers in afforestation,
soil and water conservation, and the adoption of environmentally sound technologies. Examples
include the Dasholi Gram Swarajya Mandal (DGSM), which pioneered the Chipko
movement, shifting focus to afforestation in the upper Alakananda valley with significant
success due to women's leadership and high sapling survival rates. Satellite imagery has
confirmed the efficacy of DGSM's approach in reversing land degradation. Another example is
Anna Saheb Hazare's work in Ralegaon Shindi, Maharashtra, where he organised villagers to
build water storage and recharge groundwater, leading to increased agricultural productivity and
recognition as a model of eco-restoration through self-help. Hazare also trains volunteers and
campaigns against corruption in government programmes. Beyond these well-known figures,
many local, spontaneous efforts at eco-restoration exist, such as the reforestation initiative by
youths in Hosdurga and Rampura, Karnataka, and the re-establishment of 'safety forests' and
protected bamboo forests by Christian tribal villages in Manipur after the negative consequences
of abandoning traditional practices. Reconstruction work, alongside struggle and consciousness-
raising, forms a crucial third front of the environmental movement.

GREEN DEVELOPMENT

This section discusses attempts to develop macro-level organisation to coordinate diverse

environmental groups and activities. A significant boost to this process was the rally against
'destructive development' in Harsud in 1989, followed by a meeting in Bhopal on the fifth
anniversary of the Bhopal gas tragedy. This meeting led to the formation of the Jan Vikas
Andolan (JVA) or 'People's Development Movement', a loosely knit national organisation to
coordinate local struggles, primarily of ecosystem people. The JVA aims to coordinate action
against destructive policies, provide national solidarity, mobilise public opinion for a new
development path, and work towards an ecologically sustainable and socially just future for
India. It has joined a national alliance of people's movements. The essay argues that while
environmental activism has been largely localised, the critique of the ruling ideology of imitative
industrialisation has linked the micro and macro spheres, highlighting how resource-intensive
development leads to resource conflict and impoverishment. Despite widespread agreement on
the failures of the current development model, there is limited consensus on alternative solutions,
leading to three dominant ideological perspectives within the movement.

CRUSADING GANDHIANS

This strand views environmental degradation as a moral problem rooted in materialism and
consumerism, advocating a return to pre-colonial village society as a model of social and
ecological harmony. They often cite Hindu scriptures to support a traditional reverence for
nature. Crusading Gandhians actively propagate their message of moral regeneration and critique
modernist philosophies, promoting a non-modern philosophy based on Indian tradition.

ECOLOGICAL MARXISTS

This perspective sees the problem in political and economic terms, emphasizing unequal access
to resources as the primary driver of environmental degradation, with the rich destroying nature
for profit and the poor doing so for survival. They argue that an economically just society is a
prerequisite for ecological harmony, focusing on organising the poor for collective action and
redistribution of power. Ecological Marxists, often associated with People's Science Movements,
are distinguished from Gandhians by their hostility to tradition and faith in modernity and
science, as well as their emphasis on confrontational movements.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGISTS

This strand represents a middle ground, striving for a synthesis of agriculture and industry, big
and small units, and Western and Eastern technologies. Influenced by Western socialism in its
ambivalence towards religion and criticism of social hierarchies, it also draws on the Gandhian
tradition of constructive work. Appropriate technologists focus on developing and disseminating
resource-conserving, labour-intensive, and socially liberating technologies, aiming to
demonstrate practical socio-technical alternatives. All three of these ideological tendencies are
represented within the Chipko movement. They also differ in their views on equity and science,
as well as their scale and preferred sectors of activism.

SCIENTIFIC CONSERVATION

This influential strand within the state and state agencies focuses on efficiency. B.B. Vohra's
work highlighted land and water degradation and advocated for the creation of government
bodies and policies to address these issues, with the central government playing a commanding
role. While lacking a popular following, both scientific conservation and the wilderness
movement (discussed earlier as another significant viewpoint among omnivores, focused on
wildlife protection and biodiversity) have significantly influenced government policy, leading to
legislation like the Wildlife Protection Act and the Forest Conservation Act. However, these
tendencies are often seen as 'elite' conservation by those aligned with Gandhian or Marxist
traditions due to their lack of focus on the social roots of environmental issues.

The essay concludes by noting the lack of a coherent alternative developmental paradigm from
the environmental movement due to ideological disagreements, making them vulnerable to
criticisms of being 'anti-progress'. Table 2 summarises the ideological preferences of the various
strands on key aspects of development, highlighting the limited agreement and the need for a
well-articulated alternative. The book's Part II then aims to sketch elements of such an
alternative.