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Paper short abstract

The paper aims to look at the existing livelihoods in the drought-prone region of Andhra Pradesh. The drought is due to the changing nature of climatic behavior prevailing in the area, and thus further led to large-scale migration of the poor and vulnerable tribal communities to the towns.

Paper long abstract

The topic of climate has a long history in the epistemological discourse of social sciences and anthropology. Many scholars have theorized how climate shapes society, assessing how climate differences, extremes, and seasonal patterns affect human activity. With a broad acceptance that climate organizes and shapes central aspects of our lives, there is the anthropogenic influence of post-industrial greenhouse gases. Current discussions about climate and weather differ in two ways from earlier interests in local weather, seasonal variations, extreme events, and cosmologies.

With the above discussion in the background, our paper aims to look at the existing livelihoods in the drought-prone region of Andhra Pradesh. The drought is due to the changing nature of climatic behavior prevailing in the area, and thus further led to large-scale migration of the poor and vulnerable tribal communities to the towns and urban areas to eke out their livelihoods. The paper also attempts to vividly explain the prevailing drought situation, folk narratives and oral histories on drought, opportunities and risks, and community coping mechanisms. It also looks at the adaptive mechanisms of the tribal or Adivasi communities in the region. The paper largely depends on the primary data collected from the ethnographic study among the Sugali tribe of Andhra Pradesh. It also bases its inferences on the data gathered from official reports and records, Census records, published and unpublished research reports, papers, etc. Besides, it also draws inferences from the studies made by the scholars in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere.

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This ethnographic study examines how older women's narratives in North Indian rural communities reveal vanishing zero-waste practices and environmental knowledge, exposing gendered dimensions of sustainability transmission and resistance to plastic modernity.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines how older women's narratives in North Indian rural communities embody profound entanglements between gender, environmental knowledge, and cultural transmission. Through ethnographic fieldwork, I explore how grandmothers' storytelling practices reveal a vanishing world of zero-waste living, handcraft traditions, and intimate relationships with the natural environment. These women's narratives not only document sustainable practices, from transforming plant waste into handwoven rugs to creating ritual objects like daliya (ceremonial buckets) but also expose the gendered dimensions of environmental knowledge preservation and loss.

The research investigates how these maternal narratives construct notions of "the natural" in opposition to plastic modernity, positioning traditional women's work as inherently connected to environmental stewardship. However, the reluctance of younger daughters and daughters-in-law to engage with these practices reveals how capitalist penetration reshapes both gender relations and nature-culture assemblages. As handwoven winter sweaters give way to nylon alternatives, and factory-made items replace handcrafted ritual objects, older women's stories become sites of resistance against environmental and cultural degradation.

This analysis contributes to understanding how folk narratives function as repositories of gendered environmental knowledge while simultaneously revealing the patriarchal structures that both preserve and constrain women's ecological wisdom. The paper argues that these disappearing narratives offer critical insights into alternative relationships with nature that challenge contemporary sustainability discourses by centering women's embodied knowledge and intergenerational transmission practices.

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This paper explores folklore as a framework for ecological ethics through Jataka tales, Igbo rituals, and Tsavo legends. These stories reveal values of kinship, stewardship, and spiritual ecology, offering culturally rooted insights for sustainable living and environmental justice today.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines folklore as a robust framework for ecological ethics by drawing on narratives from the Jataka tales of India, Igbo rituals of Nigeria, and Tsavo legends of East Africa. These traditional stories, often dismissed as myths or superstitions, provide profound insights into human-nature relationships grounded in values of kinship, reciprocity, and reverence for the natural world. In contrast to modernity's extractive ethos, folklore emphasizes stewardship, moral responsibility, and interconnectedness—principles central to ecological justice. The Jataka tales, particularly as retold in The Hungry Tigress, depict the Buddha in his past lives navigating complex ethical dilemmas that involve compassion, non-harming, and sacrifice, all of which resonate with sustainable ecological values. Similarly, Igbo cosmology views the land as sacred, personified by the Earth goddess, with rituals reinforcing communal responsibility and environmental harmony. The film The Ghost and the Darkness further illustrates the folkloric perspective by portraying man-eating lions as spiritual agents resisting colonial exploitation, invoking African cosmologies that blur the lines between nature and spirit. Across these diverse cultural contexts, folklore emerges not as outdated lore but as a dynamic reservoir of ecological wisdom that challenges dominant paradigms of control and consumption. By revisiting these narratives, we can reclaim traditional environmental knowledge that informs more ethical, sustainable, and culturally grounded responses to climate change and ecological degradation. Ultimately, the paper argues that folklore should be recognized as cultural heritage and a vital resource for reimagining environmental justice in the 21st century.

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The voices of ecofeminism are diverse, but their common thread is the recognition of the relationship between the domination of nature and the domination of women. In the capitalist patriarchal model, the male tendency of treating nature a commodity to be used and harnessed is extended to their treatment of women’s bodied as a sexual commodity. My paper seeks to explore how our diseased ecological systems in the Anthropocene have resulted in silencing the birdsong and the spreading of cancer with reference to Terry Tempest Williams’ (An environmentalist and Utah naturalist), memoir-‘Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place’.The memoir is an evocative and poignant ecofeminist meditations on her mother, women, nature, and birds. Refuge splices together two stories, the story of her mother’s unsuccessful battle with spreading ovarian cancer with a record shattering, catastrophic rise of the Great Salt and its destructive effect on a nearby bird refuge. Williams‘s background as an environmental writer merges with her personal quest for an engagement with the earth as part of her Mormon culture. Traversing the personal and ecological spaces simultaneously, the narrative raises crucial issues of the ecological health of Mother Earth and community well- being and acts as an intertwined discourse of the human body and the earth body. Greta Gaard defines ecofeminism as a movement that’ calls for an end to all oppression, arguing that no attempt to liberate women (or any other suppressed group) will be successful with an equal attempt to liberate nature.’

Key words: Ecofeminism, anthropocene,

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Paper short abstract

Thengapalli women in Odisha combine traditional age-old forest guardianship, spiritual ties, and gender empowerment to combat climate change. Their partnership with the mountain and goddesses offers vital insights into the intersection of gender, nature, and sustainable environmental stewardship.

Paper long abstract

In the forests of Odisha, India, the Thengapalli women have established an enduring and sustainable relationship with nature through their traditional system of forest guardianship. In over 200 villages, groups of women patrol the forests in shifts to protect valuable trees and resources from outsiders. This practice, rooted in trust and community solidarity, is a vital response to increasing threats posed by illegal logging, environmental degradation, and climate change.

The Ma Mani Nag Hills, rich in sal, teak, and other rare trees, are more than just a resource base—they are sacred landscapes intertwined with the women’s cultural identity and spirituality. The Thengapalli women draw strength and inspiration from their revered goddess, Kalia Sandha, and other divine entities, blending spiritual reverence with practical conservation. This spiritual connection motivates sustainable practices, such as collecting fallen leaves and dry wood rather than cutting living trees, and actively replanting to maintain forest health.

The leadership of these women not only preserves biodiversity and forest ecosystems but also strengthens social cohesion by bridging caste and tribal divides. Their stewardship has sustained livelihoods and food security, especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when their protective efforts helped communities remain safe and self-reliant.

This narrative reveals how gender, culture, and spirituality intersect to empower women as agents of environmental change. The Thengapalli women’s model offers critical lessons for addressing climate change through community-led conservation rooted in partnership with nature and social equity.

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This study aims to determine whether folklore plays a role in maintaining epistemic justice for indigenous communities dealing with climate change. The African water snake motif is used as example to show how folklore elements can simultaneously function in various different epistemic system layers.

Paper long abstract

Indigenous African communities may possess rich knowledge about the natural environment, but this contribution is often undervalued in scientific circles, leading to a reduction in the ability of vulnerable communities to respond to the climate crisis. The purpose of this study is to determine whether folklore can play a role in maintaining epistemic justice for indigenous communities, in the context of collaborative climate change adaptation. In particular, the aim is to investigate the integration of folklore elements into religious ground motives, worldviews, paradigms, theories and practices of communities when dealing with climate change. Methodologically, different types of epistemic (eg. testimonial-, hermeneutical- and distributive-) injustice are analyzed to determine the challenges that communities face when integrating folklore in collaborative adaptation efforts. The African water snake motif is used as example to show how folklore elements can simultaneously function in various different epistemic system layers, such as pre-theoretical and theoretical beliefs. This is important because real adaptation to climate change is a collaborative effort that sometimes have to occur across seemingly incommensurable epistemic systems, for instance indigenous- and scientific knowledge systems. Secondly, real adaptation to climate change sometimes require deep worldviewish changes of the ways in which we understand nature. The contribution of this study is unique because it enables a more holistic approach to climate change adaptation efforts in indigenous communities. Furthermore, the incorporation of folklore in this manner gives relevance to folklore studies in addressing climate change as one of the most pressing concerns for our planet.

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Exploring non-binary lives in Bangladesh, this study uses art-based storytelling to reveal marginalization and trauma, while fostering healing, visibility, and empowerment through creative folk narratives

Paper long abstract

Art has long served as a profound healer, setting humans apart from other species. In Bangladesh, religion and politics dominate public life, leaving non-binary individuals particularly vulnerable. They face constant pressures from religious misinterpretations, societal dogmas, and systemic denial of dignity, recognition, and legal rights within families, communities, and the state.

This study explores these lived realities through art. Seventeen artists collaborated across diverse media to represent the experiences of three non-binary individuals. Their testimonies revealed deprivation in acceptance, education, nutrition, healthcare—including sexual and reproductive health—bodily autonomy, and equitable employment.

Using an Art-Based Research Methodology, participants processed trauma while articulating their experiences. Workshops and art camps in two university spaces created platforms for non-binary voices, making human rights issues visible through narrative art. A subsequent exhibition highlighted art’s power as advocacy, especially where radical ideologies limit freedoms. Audiences witnessed how artistic interventions affirm rights, empower communities, and enable social and emotional healing.

Non-binary narratives, often silenced or ignored, were presented as living tapestries: poignant lyrics, dramatic monologues, narratives adapted into scripts, vibrant canvases and installations, rhythmic music, and expressive dance. Each artwork communicated collective anguish, frustration, and longing for recognition. Together, these forms became vessels of truth, carrying non-binary voices and demanding acknowledgment of their humanity. The project situates contemporary non-binary experiences within folk narrative research, demonstrating how art can transform trauma into healing, visibility, and advocacy in Bangladeshi society.