Paper short abstract:

A moral code referred to by fishermen in the Sundarbans as jongoler niyam, literally 'laws of the jungle,'is relegated by regional stakeholders to a depoliticized sphere of religion and ritual. Instead, I argue, if understood holistically, they are a form of alternative vernacular forest governance.

Paper long abstract:

This paper, based on fieldwork in the Sundarbans mangrove forest of West Bengal, centers on a moral code referred to as jongoler niyam, literally 'laws of the jungle', followed by the fishing community whose livelihoods depend on the forests. This moral code is derived from religious beliefs around the forest goddess Bonbibi who preaches specific conduct centered around an ethic of restraint where one should take no more than one needs. This paper proposes that these 'laws of the jungle' are an alternative form of vernacular forest governance.

First, I contrast the prevailing political paradigms that seek to represent or control the fishing community, namely the conservationist and rights-based camps, with the 'laws of the jungle'. I show how the 'laws of the jungle' are antithetical to the surveillance, fines and fear enshrined in the State's conservation laws, but simultaneously also eschew the idea of universal entitlement advanced by forest rights activists. The 'laws of the jungle' have been largely ignored, in both language and imagination, by the prevailing political movements, which instead relegate them to a depoliticized sphere of religion and ritual.

I contend that these beliefs, if understood holistically, propose an alternative politics that hinge on governing the self. By extension, these beliefs provide a model for organizing social relations and protecting the environmental commons. By exploring the different political visions that forests allow for, I argue for anthropology's potential to escape the current "impasse" and contribute to new bases for political organization latent in peoples' everyday moralities.