The forest history in India is fraught with struggles between the forest dwelling communities and the state. While the state usurped power over forests, excluding the communities and privileging commercial interests; the alienation of communities from their own land and homes resulted in mobilization across different sites. The movement for protection of forest commons assumed significance through the decade of 1970s that saw the famous Chipko movement in Uttarakhand and other forms of resistance across the country. The demand upon the forests that had intensified with subsistence, commercial and urbanization pressures, further enhanced with pressures of globalization. The consequent environmental degradation and dispossession of the communities of their resources resulted in varieties of environmentalism. In the arena of environmental conflict, Central India has been a hotbed of contest with forcible evictions, increasing base of extractive industries and steady militarization. The tribal communities in Central India faced serious threat from a monolithic state as it prioritized ‘national development’ goals over social equity and environmental justice. Rooted in this inequity was widespread discontent and social mobilization across the forested landscape. The local mobilization in Baiga Chak area of Central India clearly marked recognition of their socio-cultural embeddedness in their natural setting, particularly forest. What was unique in this movement was the uprising of Baiga women to assert their rights over the forest contrary to their traditionally defined role. It gradually led to collectivization of demand for recognition of Baiga communities’ historical relationship and claims over forest resource. Using the framework of Feminist Political Ecology, this paper examines Baiga women’s movement against Forest Department’s unlawful practices in Baiga Chak region of Central India. Using a case-based approach, the paper addresses the following questions: What factors led to the feminized grassroots environmental movement? How have women’s bargaining power and gender relations evolved at the local level consequently? What effect does women’s resistance have on community governed forest systems? In response to state usurpation that threatened the livelihood and household well-being, Baiga women collectively struggled to regain control over local forest resources. The analysis of this gendered environmental movement establishes an intersection between local structural, economic and ecological concerns and signals possibility of several gendered social movements in contested resource geographies.

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捍卫森林：印度中部社区治理森林中拜加妇女动员的案例研究


印度的森林历史充满了森林居民社区与国家之间的斗争。国家篡夺了森林权力，排斥社区并赋予商业利益特权；社区与自己的土地和家园的疏远导致了不同地点的动员。保护森林公地的运动在 20 世纪 70 年代具有重要意义，见证了北阿坎德邦著名的 Chipko 运动和全国各地的其他形式的抵抗运动。对森林的需求因生存、商业和城市化压力而加剧，并因全球化压力而进一步增强。随之而来的环境退化和社区资源的剥夺导致了各种环保主义的出现。在环境冲突领域，印度中部一直是强制驱逐、不断扩大采掘业基础和稳定军事化等竞争的温床。印度中部的部落社区面临着来自单一国家的严重威胁，因为该国家将“国家发展”目标置于社会公平和环境正义之上。这种不平等的根源是森林地区普遍存在的不满情绪和社会动员。印度中部 Baiga Chak 地区的当地动员清楚地表明他们承认其社会文化融入自然环境，特别是森林。这场运动的独特之处在于拜加妇女的起义，以违背她们传统定义的角色来维护她们对森林的权利。它逐渐导致了承认拜加社区的历史关系和对森林资源的主张的需求的集体化。 本文利用女权主义政治生态学的框架，研究了印度中部拜加查克地区拜加妇女反对林业部门非法行为的运动。本文采用基于案例的方法解决了以下问题：哪些因素导致了女性化的草根环保运动？妇女的讨价还价能力和性别关系在地方一级是如何演变的？妇女的抵抗对社区管理的森林系统有什么影响？为了应对威胁生计和家庭福祉的国家篡夺行为，拜加妇女集体努力重新获得对当地森林资源的控制权。对这一性别环境运动的分析建立了当地结构、经济和生态问题之间的交叉点，并表明在有争议的资源地理区域中存在多种性别社会运动的可能性。