University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Master's Theses Graduate School 2006 A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF THE CHIPKO MOVEMENT Sya Kedzior University of Kentucky,
[email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Kedzior, Sya, "A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF THE CHIPKO MOVEMENT" (2006). University of Kentucky Master's Theses. 289. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_theses/289 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ABSTRACT OF THESIS A POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF THE CHIPKO MOVEMENT The Indian Chipko movement is analyzed as a case study employing a geographically-informed political ecology approach. Political ecology as a framework for the study of environmental movements provides insight into the complex issues surrounding the structure of Indian society, with particular attention to its ecological and political dimensions. This framework, with its focus on social structure and ecology, is distinct from the more “traditional” approaches to the study of social movements, which tend to essentialize their purpose and membership, often by focusing on a single dimension of the movement and its context. Using Chipko as a case-study, the author demonstrates how a geographical approach to political ecology avoids some of this essentialization by encouraging a holistic analysis of environmental movements that is characterized by a “bottom-up” analysis, grounded at the local level, which also considers the wider context of the movement’s growth by synthesizing socio-political and ecological analyses.