Living Between Juniper and Palm Nature, Culture, and Power in the Himalayas

About this book

Living between Juniper and Palm discusses issues of sustainability, ecology, and environment in the Himalayas, particularly among the Tamang people of Nepal. Indigenous environmental knowledge is revealed – covering forests and plants, places and pathways, wild and domestic animals, and ideas of sameness and difference between humans and non-humans. Modern conservation of the environment is contrasted to shamanic and Hindu cosmologies, providing cultural analysis to power dimensions of participatory conservation after Nepal's Maoist insurgency. This anthropological study combines critical perspectives and a comparative framework for analysing human–environment relations. The author also addresses new approaches to environmental protection, examining the case of Langtang National Park. He compares attempts to make the park a more inclusive organization with similar moves elsewhere in Nepal under the sustainability agenda.

Contents

Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: Enquiring Ethnographically into Nature Protection

Part I:
1: Perceiving the Environment
2: Shifting Paradigms in Conservation and Environmental Anthropology

Part II:
3: Forests of History: Plants, People, and Power
4: Connecting Pathways: Dwelling and Displacement on the Mountainside
5: Social Life with Livestock: Categorizing Relationships of Animal and Human Care
6: Animals Behaving Badly: Indigenous Perceptions of Wildlife Protection
7: Selves and Others in a Conflictual Environment

Part III:
8: Encountering Conservation: Resources, Communities, and Governance
9: Translating Sustainability
Conclusion: Culture and Environment Revisited

Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Ben Campbell is Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, Durham University.