Doing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work

This article explores the conditions and perceptions of daily wage work provided by the Forest Department around Panna Tiger Reserve in Central India. Drawing on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork, it analyses the conditions of forest work within this context of livelihood prohibitions, the broader...

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Autor principal: Adam Runacres
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2021
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:04162febebe74ec39d1e399ced9ccc522021-11-19T10:59:17ZDoing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work0972-492310.4103/cs.cs_205_20https://doaj.org/article/04162febebe74ec39d1e399ced9ccc522021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.conservationandsociety.org/article.asp?issn=0972-4923;year=2021;volume=19;issue=4;spage=271;epage=281;aulast=Runacreshttps://doaj.org/toc/0972-4923This article explores the conditions and perceptions of daily wage work provided by the Forest Department around Panna Tiger Reserve in Central India. Drawing on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork, it analyses the conditions of forest work within this context of livelihood prohibitions, the broader political economy of precarious labour, and village-forest relations in Panna district. Through different case studies, the article unpacks the dynamics of familiarity, negotiation and exploitation that characterise forest work, utilising forest workers' own description of their work to comment on how a confluence of vulnerable conditions compel local people to take up the precarious daily wage work offered by the Forest Department. The workers' descriptions also offer the concept of 'compulsion' as an important addition to interdisciplinary discussions about 'vulnerability.' I argue that forest workers are a missed opportunity for good relations between conservation projects and local communities, as actors who regularly manage the simultaneous demands of their village communities, and Forest Departments and navigate the complexity and nuance of the relationships between and within both. Rather than examples of conservation benefits for local communities, the poor conditions and insecurities of forest work lead to decreased support for conservation and worsen the reputation of the Forest Department in areas where gainful employment is desperately needed.Adam RunacresWolters Kluwer Medknow Publicationsarticleforest worklabourlivelihoodscommunity engagementvulnerabilityconservation employmenttiger conservationethnographyindiaEcologyQH540-549.5ENConservation & Society, Vol 19, Iss 4, Pp 271-281 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic forest work
labour
livelihoods
community engagement
vulnerability
conservation employment
tiger conservation
ethnography
india
Ecology
QH540-549.5
spellingShingle forest work
labour
livelihoods
community engagement
vulnerability
conservation employment
tiger conservation
ethnography
india
Ecology
QH540-549.5
Adam Runacres
Doing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work
description This article explores the conditions and perceptions of daily wage work provided by the Forest Department around Panna Tiger Reserve in Central India. Drawing on 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork, it analyses the conditions of forest work within this context of livelihood prohibitions, the broader political economy of precarious labour, and village-forest relations in Panna district. Through different case studies, the article unpacks the dynamics of familiarity, negotiation and exploitation that characterise forest work, utilising forest workers' own description of their work to comment on how a confluence of vulnerable conditions compel local people to take up the precarious daily wage work offered by the Forest Department. The workers' descriptions also offer the concept of 'compulsion' as an important addition to interdisciplinary discussions about 'vulnerability.' I argue that forest workers are a missed opportunity for good relations between conservation projects and local communities, as actors who regularly manage the simultaneous demands of their village communities, and Forest Departments and navigate the complexity and nuance of the relationships between and within both. Rather than examples of conservation benefits for local communities, the poor conditions and insecurities of forest work lead to decreased support for conservation and worsen the reputation of the Forest Department in areas where gainful employment is desperately needed.
format article
author Adam Runacres
author_facet Adam Runacres
author_sort Adam Runacres
title Doing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work
title_short Doing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work
title_full Doing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work
title_fullStr Doing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work
title_full_unstemmed Doing Chowkidaari: Vulnerability in Village-Forest Relations and the Compulsion of Forest Work
title_sort doing chowkidaari: vulnerability in village-forest relations and the compulsion of forest work
publisher Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/04162febebe74ec39d1e399ced9ccc52
work_keys_str_mv AT adamrunacres doingchowkidaarivulnerabilityinvillageforestrelationsandthecompulsionofforestwork
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