View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Oregon Scholars' Bank JUSTICE, DEVELOPMENT AND INDIA’S CLIMATE POLITICS: A POSTCOLONIAL POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF THE ATMOSPHERIC COMMONS by SHANGRILA JOSHI A DISSERTATION Presented to the Environmental Studies Program and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2011 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Shangrila Joshi Title: Justice, Development and India’s Climate Politics: A Postcolonial Political Ecology of the Atmospheric Commons This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Environmental Studies Program by: Shaul Cohen Chairperson Alec Murphy Member Ted Toadvine Member Peter Walker Member Anita Weiss Outside Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research & Innovation/Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded September 2011 ii © 2011 Shangrila Joshi iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Shangrila Joshi Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies Program September 2011 Title: Justice, Development and India’s Climate Politics: A Postcolonial Political Ecology of the Atmospheric Commons Approved: _______________________________________________ Dr. Shaul Cohen Global climate negotiations have been at a standstill for over a decade now over the issue of distributing the responsibility of mitigating climate change among countries. During the past few years, countries such as India and China – the so-called emerging economies that were under no obligation to mitigate under the Kyoto Protocol – have increasingly come under pressure to accept limits comparable to those for industrialized countries. These countries, in turn, have strongly resisted these pressures. My dissertation examines India’s participation in these ongoing climate negotiations. Based on qualitative interviews with relevant Indian officials, textual analysis and participant observation, I tell the story of why and how this so-called emerging economy has been resisting a cap on its emissions despite being one of the most vulnerable countries to the consequences of climate change. I draw upon the literatures of environmental justice, international relations, postcolonialism and political ecology to develop my dissertation and adopt a self-reflexive approach in my analysis. iv The need for global cooperation to address global environmental issues has arguably provided greater bargaining power to countries formerly marginalized in the global political economy. Following the dynamics of North-South environmental politics, India’s climate politics consists of utilizing this power to increase its access to global resources as well as to hold hegemonic industrialized countries accountable for their historical and continuing exploitation of the environmental commons. A key aspect of India’s climate politics consists of self-identification as a developing country. Developed countries with higher cumulative and per capita emissions are seen to have the primary responsibility to mitigate climate change and to provide financial and technological support to developing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Developing countries are seen to have a right to pursue development defined as economic growth. The climate crisis is thus seen by my respondents as an opportunity to address the unequal status quo between developed and developing countries. I suggest that this crisis also creates opportunities to redefine development beyond a narrow focus on economic growth. This may be enabled if the demand for justice in an international context is extended to the domestic sphere. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Shangrila Joshi GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Ohio University, Athens St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu University, Kathmandu, Nepal DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Environmental Sciences, Studies and Policy, 2011, University of Oregon Master of Arts, International Affairs, 2004, Ohio University Bachelor of Science, Environmental Sciences, 2001, St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Political Ecology Environmental Justice Environment and Development Climate Policy and Politics South Asia PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 2004-2011 Graduate Associate, Ohio University, Athens, OH, 2002-2004 Reporter, The Himalayan Times, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2001-2002 Instructor, Nepal Sarvodaya Sewa Kendra, Lalitpur, Nepal, 2001 Rapporteur, Richoi Associates, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2001 vi GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) Leadership Initiative Award, Environmental Justice in Arizona and Beyond, Tokyo Foundation, 2011 Barker Travel and Research Awards, 2007-2011 Dissertation Writing Fellowship, Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, University of Oregon, 2009-2010 Graduate School Research Award, University of Oregon, 2009 Honorable Mention, University of Oregon Public Impact Fellowship, 2009 SYLFF Mobility Fellow Award, Tokyo Foundation, 2008-09 Oregon University System - SYLFF Graduate Fellowship for International Research, Tokyo Foundation, 2008-09 Center for Asian and Pacific Studies Small Professional Grant, University of Oregon, 2008 Media Fellowship, South Asian Journalists’ Workshop on Sustainable Development, Center for Science and Environment, Delhi, 2002 PUBLICATIONS: Joshi, Shangrila. Understanding India’s representation of North-South climate politics. (Invitation to revise and resubmit in Global Environmental Politics) Joshi, Shangrila. Using an environmental justice lens to examine India’s climate politics. (Submitted for publication in a special issue of ‘Socio-cultural Dimensions of Climate Change’ in The Journal of Environment and Development) Joshi, Shangrila, and Bhoj Raj Pokharel. 2002. Prioritizing environmental projects for foreign aid in Nepal. (Report submitted to then Ministry of Population and Environment, Nepal) vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my deepest appreciation to my dissertation committee members for their invaluable support and guidance in conducting research for the dissertation and preparing this manuscript. Special thanks are due to my dissertation chair Dr. Shaul Cohen for his incredible patience as I made my way through the transcription, coding and writing processes. For helpful feedback on various versions of the draft chapters I wish to thank Dr. Cohen, Dr. Alec Murphy, Dr. Ted Toadvine, Dr. Anita Weiss, Gennie Nguyen, Dylan Brady and Innisfree McKinnon. In addition, several individuals were crucial to the successful conclusion of my dissertation, by way of providing much needed encouragement and emotional support. I wish to thank my parents Swayambhu Ram Joshi and Subha Laxmi Joshi, husband James Wynn, brother Saubhagya Ram Joshi, my supervisor and mentor during the past year Dr. Sandi Morgen, friends and colleagues Dr. Eve Vogel, Dr. Janet Fiskio, Erica Elliott, Gayla WardWell, RaDonna Aymong, Leslie McLees, Kiran Sahdev and Divya Bheda for their invaluable support and positive energy. I am also indebted to Dr. Scott Bridgham for enabling the conditions from which this dissertation topic arose, and Tom Ptak for introducing me to the fascinating world of Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak. I wish to thank all my named and unnamed interview respondents in India and Copenhagen for trusting me and sharing their views with my openly. Acknowledgments are also due to Dr. Patricia Solis and Dr. Monica Varsanyi for making it possible for me to attend COP-15 for fieldwork. And finally, I wish to thank various funders who enabled me to travel to India and Copenhagen to conduct research on the dissertation: the Tokyo viii Foundation, the Barker Foundation, the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, the UO Graduate School, and the UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies. ix I dedicate this dissertation to my son Aadi and to Moss Street Children’s Center for taking care of him while I worked on completing this manuscript. x TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Dissertation Project ................................................................................................ 4 Organization of Chapters ....................................................................................... 9 Brief Background of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol ................................. 11 Contemporary Discussions and Debate on Climate Mitigation ............................. 14 II. INDIA’S CLIMATE POLITICS: A POSTCOLONIAL POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF THE ATMOSPHERIC COMMONS ................................................. 19 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 19 Postcolonial Geographies....................................................................................... 23 A North-South Postcolonial Geography? ........................................................ 25 Critique and Complicity ................................................................................... 30 Towards a Postcolonial Political Ecology of the Atmospheric Commons ............ 35 India’s Climate Politics .........................................................................................