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KATJU-DISSERTATION-2018.Pdf (2.342Mb) THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF NON-COMPLIANCE: ENCROACHMENT, ILLICIT RESOURCE EXTRACTION, AND ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE IN THE MANAS TIGER RESERVE (INDIA) A Dissertation by DHANANJAYA KATJU Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Gerard Kyle Committee Members, Forrest Fleischman Thomas Lacher Paul Robbins Amanda Stronza Head of Department, Scott Shafer May 2018 Major Subject: Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences Copyright 2018 Dhananjaya Katju ABSTRACT This research investigates the interaction between environmental conservation and management in a protected area and the livelihoods of rural producers set against the political backdrop of an ethnically diverse and conflicted socio-cultural landscape. The establishment of protected areas for biodiversity conservation frequently separates people from their physical environment through an overall curtailment of traditional natural resource use. Indigenous or tribal people are regularly viewed forest stewards and victims of conservation enclosures, while being simultaneously labeled as forest destroyers and encroachers on biodiversity conservation landscapes. While existing literature has documented the impacts of protected areas on tribal people, as well as the formation of environmental identities and subjectivities among forest-dwelling communities, scant attention has been paid to how their interactions mediate environmental governance. This dissertation addresses this gap with data from sixteen months of fieldwork in the Manas Tiger Reserve (or Manas; Assam, India) utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods to evaluate the role of identity, livelihoods, and governance within a political ecology framework. A tribal identity within the Bodo ethnic group developed through interactions of within-group and externally-generated understandings of what it means to be ‘Bodo’, with the dialectic mediated by socio- cultural, political, economic, and ecological factors. Land use practices and livelihood generation strategies in the Manas landscape include illegal occupation of land within Manas for agricultural production, as well as illicit natural resource extraction (timber, ii fuelwood). The Bodo community has a dominant role in the governance of Manas, positioning itself as the protector of Manas while actively driving land cover change within the Reserve. These findings generate the following conclusions: the manifestation of a self-realized, ethno-regional Bodo identity occurs through socio-cultural conceptualizations, making a living in the Manas landscape, and an environmental subjectivity that positions Bodos as forest-dwelling people. Bodos socio-politically dominate non-tribal groups, illicitly extract Manas resources, while being key players in managing the Reserve. The result is an inconsistent domain that produces varying environmental subjects who both participate in and reject the technologies of the State through a lens of “technologies of the self”, thus straddling the gap between environmental legislation and its implementation in the MTR. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation marks a key point in an ongoing journey that has been anything but linear, having wound its way through the biological and ecological, as well as the social sciences. It would simply have not been possible without the help, support, and mentorship of many friends and colleagues over the years of my association with the overarching field of environmental conservation. I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive and skillful doctoral committee. My advisor Gerard Kyle was, in many ways, the bedrock of my doctoral effort. His promptness in responding to my diverse needs, and in creating the space for me to garner the resources I needed to see this process through completion, made him an exemplary guide and mentor. In addition to bringing her environmental anthropology knowhow to my committee, Amanda Stronza conceptualized, materialized, and directed the NSF- IGERT-funded ‘Applied Biodiversity Program’ which not only significantly financed me but provided a truly memorable circle of colleagues and friends. Tom Lacher provided the ‘conservation biology’ expertise with his vast knowledge and wide-ranging experience on matters relating to biodiversity conservation. With his exceptional knowledge of both forest management in India and the workings of the Indian Forest Department, Forrest Fleischman provided detailed and thoughtful input to my dissertation. Paul Robbins’ role in the completion of my program goes far beyond his being part of my committee. Apart from his long-term guidance and mentorship, he was a supportive friend during an exceptionally trying phase in my doctoral experience. iv The academic foundation for my career in environmental conservation was laid at the Center of Wildlife and Ornithology at the Aligarh Muslim University in India. I learned much from faculty and fellow-students during lectures, fieldwork, as well as long open-ended discussions over innumerable cups of tea at university dhabas. I am especially grateful to Asad Rahmani, Jamal Khan, Salim Javed, Shah Hussain, Khalid Pasha, Rashid Raza, and Intesar Suhail for some unforgettable times. After obtaining my Master’s degree from Aligarh, I was fortunate to work with a fantastic mentor and an unforgettable boss. Rahul Kaul was then heading the South Asia chapter of the World Pheasant Association and sent me to the region that would eventually host my doctoral research – northeast India. Rahul was the first conservation ecologist to draw my attention to ‘human dimensions’ long before the term became popular and would constantly encourage me to think about the social, political, and economic motivations underlying land-use practices in zones of biodiversity conservation. In his current role as Chief Ecologist for the Wildlife Trust of India, he provided invaluable support, advice, and data relevant to my doctoral research. Andy Mack and Deb Wright were unwittingly responsible for my shift from biological conservation to political ecology. Their funding and overall support enabled a 3-months stint in the highlands of Papua New Guinea during which a chance meeting with a cultural anthropologist catalyzed a rethink regarding the direction of my career. It forced me to subsequently engage directly with questions about conservation how, where, why, and for whom. v Many individuals provided stellar support during fieldwork for this dissertation. With his incomparable knowledge of the history of forest conservation and management in Assam, Arupjyoti Saikia guided me to relevant archival data, helped me navigate through dreary official documents, and provided me with a diversity of information based on a lifetime of living and working in Assam. Bhaskar Choudhury and Sanatan Deka provided logistical support, helped connect me with respondents, and shared invaluable data garnered through their extensive work experience in the Manas landscape. Jenny Liang and Sunil Kaul hosted me on multiple occasions at the lovely campus of their NGO, helped me with data collection, and introduced me to key contacts. Nandita Hazarika and Goutam Narayan provided a home-away-from-home in Guwahati and offered a diversity of support throughout the course of my fieldwork. I’m particularly thankful to Satya Brata Saikia for providing a place to stay during periods of research in Guwahati. A special note of appreciation is due to Kampa Borgoyary for facilitating the process of obtaining official documentation to conduct parts of my field research, and for regaling me with an anecdotal history of the Bodoland movement. While it would be almost impossible for me to name all the people who assisted in different ways with making this research possible, I’m particularly indebted to Raju Narzary, Premjit Narzary, Pramod Boro, Lawrence Islary, Swapnanil Barua, Preetam and Sheila Barua, Vivek Katju, and Narayan Sharma. Additionally, I am deeply grateful to several respondents who I have chosen not to name to preserve confidentiality. This research would simply not have been possible without their knowledge, experience, and vi the willingness to share both with me. I am profoundly appreciative of their patience in fielding my frequently ignorant and often foolish questions. My in-laws, Krishnakamal and Meenakshi Bhuyan provided a retreat when I needed a break from the stresses of fieldwork. Their boundless hospitality, affection, and special attention to my needs and preferences helped me rejuvenate. This dissertation could simply have not been possible without the support of my graduate family at the Applied Biodiversity Program. In particular, the friendship and collegiality of Craig Hutton, Nick Jacobsen, Mike Petriello, Leslie Ruyle, and Carena van Riper helped immensely in navigating the doctoral waters. Jane Packard and Lee Fitzgerald were there to help at a crucial juncture, and for that I shall be eternally grateful. Not last and most definitely the least, I want to thank Wendy Jepson, Christian Brannstrom, and Kathleen O’Reilly for showing me the kind of academic, and more importantly, the kind of human being I would never want to be. The boundless support, empathy, and patience of Devi Bhuyan throughout this long, frequently arduous, and occasionally very stressful process is something that I cannot ever express sufficient gratitude for. She tolerated the extended absence of fieldwork with extraordinary
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