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Witch Hunts, Herbal Healing, and Discourses of Indigenous Ecodevelopment in North India: Theory and Method in the Anthropology of Environmentality
Author(s) -
SNODGRASS JEFFREY G.,
LACY MICHAEL G.,
SHARMA SATISH KUMAR,
JHALA YUVRAJ SINGH,
ADVANI MOHAN,
BHARGAVA N. K.,
UPADHYAY CHAKRAPANI
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1111/j.1548-1433.2008.00040.x
Subject(s) - indigenous , medical anthropology , political ecology , politics , traditional knowledge , anthropology , wildlife , ethnology , overexploitation , sociology , state (computer science) , geography , social science , history , environmental ethics , ecology , political science , biology , philosophy , algorithm , computer science , law
In this article, we examine the environmental thought and practice of indigenous peoples living in and around a wildlife sanctuary in North India. Analysis reveals that those religious specialists (such as shamans) who possess knowledge of herbal healing are more committed than other villagers to preventing or mitigating the overharvesting of natural resources. To explain these results, reference is made to a specific juncture of native traditions and modern conditions and in particular to an intersection of local economies with global discourses of “ecodevelopment.” Drawing on theories and methods from political ecology and cultural psychology, we present a framework for testing the extent that local actors—in this case, shamanic and herbalist healers—are differently positioned to resist or accommodate state and parastate structures of “environmentality” than are other villagers.