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This study analyzes modal verbs and directive speech in environmental laws to reveal how discretionary obligations are expressed. Results highlight the balance between enforceability and flexibility, emphasizing language's role in advancing governance and Sustainable Development Goals.

Paper long abstract

This forensic-legal study examines how modal verbs and directive speech acts encode legal obligations in environmental laws and treaties using a mixed-methods approach. Analyzing 323 documents from 2019 to 2024 via corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, and bibliometric mapping, the research identifies dominant obligation markers such as "shall" and "must" for binding duties, and "should" and "may" for softer, discretionary obligations. Directive speech is conveyed through imperative modalities, hedging, performative verbs, conditional clauses, and enumerated obligations, reflecting a nuanced balance between legal enforceability and diplomatic flexibility. The study highlights emerging trends toward data-driven, interdisciplinary methodologies and an increased focus on vagueness, ambiguity, and comparative legal linguistics. These findings present the importance of precise linguistic formulation in enhancing the clarity, adaptability, and authority of environmental governance frameworks. Ultimately, this research contributes to advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action), 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

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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.

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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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The paper focuses on survival, capitalist extraction and gendered exploitation in Rabindranath Tagore's play "Red Oleanders" (1925), highlighting its folk resonances, where Nandini's character symbolises indigenous cultural imagination and ecofeminist resistance against capitalist ecological damage.

Paper long abstract

The intersection of ecology and gender in contemporary scholarship reveals complex layers of oppression and extraction by capitalist and patriarchal structures, establishing that ecological devastation and gendered exploitation are intertwined. Taking this ethos forward, the paper will critically analyse Rabindranath Tagore's play "Red Oleanders" (1925), which laments the loss of spiritual harmony and highlights emotional aridity in a mechanised capitalist society. The play is a powerful protest against gendered oppression, unchecked exploitation of natural resources to satisfy human greed, and a critique of human estrangement in a materialistic society. The paper argues that the protagonist, Nandini, embodies folk aesthetics in the play and emerges as a powerful symbol of gendered resistance against capitalist extraction and ecological degradation. Her non-normative portrayal of femininity presents a much-needed hope for humans to reconnect with nature, with which they are intrinsically entangled. The character of Nandini echoes Tagore's love and reverence for nature as well as the influence of folk narratives on his dramatic sensibility. Through an ecofeminist reading of "Red Oleanders" in the light of the current climate crisis, the paper situates itself at the critical juncture where indigenous theatrical tradition, ecological thought, and gendered resistance intersect. Drawing on Postcolonial and Ecofeminist theories, the paper will argue that Nandini's figure symbolises a convergence of feminist resilience, ecological entanglements, and folk imaginaries. The paper aims to contribute to contemporary ecofeminist scholarship, extend the discourse on the intersection of theatre and ecology, and comment on alternative modes of coexistence against ecological inequalities and capitalist tendencies.

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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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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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Drawing on insights from trans*-related experiences with change, this conceptual paper proposes alternative conceptualisations of being in environmental change. It creates narratives that go beyond overwhelm and eco-anxiety to instead centre joy, hope, and agency.

Paper long abstract

This conceptual paper brings together trans* studies and environmental humanities to examine narratives of change. Change, or rather the narratives through which we tell stories of change, can be overwhelming and connected to feelings of despair, powerlessness, and anxiety. When they relate to environmental change, these feelings are often called eco-anxiety.

Both gender-related and environment-related change not only concern something existential, they are also often constructed along binaries and in ways that create unique relationships to presents and futures. Based on these similarities, the paper sets out to examine insights from trans* experiences with change and their helpfulness in an environmental context. It identifies three main aspects of potential repositioning within moments of change that enable different dealing with the unpredictability, uncertainty, and uncontrollability of a world in critical environmental changes in ways that centre agency: (1) conceptualising moments of change as openings for imagination and creativity, (2) reorientation within the movement of change itself in a way that emphasises its directionality instead of destinations, and (3) actively building networks of care that encompass selves and worlds that feel bad, lost, or broken.

Through that, it proposes joyful and empowered narratives of change, and enables rethinking one’s own position amidst environmental crises. This repositioning can open helpful ways of dealing with overwhelming and eco-anxious feelings in the face of painful presents and uncertain futures. Since eco-anxiety emotionally collapses the global scope of environmental challenges into the individual, it is helpful to develop strategies of approaching change on this level.

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Paper short abstract

This paper is engaged with the concepts of ecofeminism and environmentalism of the poor. Here keen interest is to know how is environmental knowledge gendered in indigenous tribes and in what ways do ritual and culture serve as tools to reclaim women's ecological agency within the climate discourse?

Paper long abstract

Abstract :

Indigenous communities embody vital yet systematically undervalued approaches to environmental stewardship. Grounded in gender sensitive framework this paper examine the intersection of gender, ecology and ritual among the Jaunsari tribe of Uttarakhand (India) and brings together Eco-feminist theory articulated by scholars like Vandana Shiva, Maria Mies and others. In the context of Jaunsari tribe it expands the concept that women’s ecological roles are not marginal but central as they are the bearers of ritual knowledge, local seed preserver, forest foragers and the performers of climate responsive ceremonies as well as oral transmitters of environmental related concerns. ‘Basanti’, forest festivals, 'Bissu Fair' and nature worship are the forms of environmental agency and cultural resistance to ecological degradation. Another theoretical framework is the concept of ‘environmentalism of poor’ proposed by Ramchandra Guha (1989) that situates tribal and peasants communities at the center of ecological movements contrasting them with elite technocratic environmentalism and also the role of women in Chipko movement as an example of decentralised, culturally rooted ecological resistance. The paper delves into the life world of Jaunsari tribe of Uttarakhand and uncovers how these gendered rituals function not merely as symbolic acts but as vernacular systems of ecological governance rooted in intergenerational memory and sacred relation between land and climate. This article, therefore, calls for policy measures that focus on empowering tribal women and preserving their cultural heritage in global era.

Key Words : Indigenous Knowledge System, Cultural traditions, Ecology, Ecofeminism, Gender, Jaunsari tribe

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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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This study explores the role of women in the disaster legends of the Turkic World, analyzing the construction of female identity through Eagly’s Social Role Theory and a feminist perspective, revealing its cultural reflections, impact on society, and the gender-based challenges faced by women.

Paper long abstract

A folktale is a unique product of oral literature that embodies the beliefs, customs, traditions, mentality, values, and daily life of the society in which it is performed. It preserves traces of the past and transmits them to the future through distinctive narrators and storytelling techniques.

This study examines four folktales of the Turkish tradition collected in Türkiye by Saim Sakaoğlu, Mehmet Özçelik, and Mine Ayan: “Ağlayan Narla Gülen Ayva” (The Crying Pomegranate and the Smiling Quince), “Padişahın Kızı” (The Sultan’s Daughter), “Arap Üzengi” (The Arab Stirrup), and “Askere Giden Kız” (The Girl Who Went to the Army).

In these tales, the female protagonist undergoes a biological gender transformation into a male as a result of a curse, and the reasons behind this transformation are questioned. The analysis is conducted through the combined framework of Social Learning Theory and Cognitive Development Theory, which explain the acquisition of gender and differences between sexes.

By addressing how a society transmits its rules and mindset to individuals and how this affects their cognition and self-identity, the study explores the role of folktales in the construction of gender and how extraordinary situations are depicted within the folktale world in relation to the society’s beliefs, values, and social organization.

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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.

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Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves shows that Indigenous bodies are targeted by colonial settlers for their ability to dream with the land. These dreams, located in the bone marrow, allow Indigenous characters to survive by resisting colonial exploitation and climate change.

Paper long abstract

The proposed paper will provide an analytical reading of Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves (2017) in terms of its portrayal of nature as a living entity and a repository of cultural knowledge. The novel depicts dreaming as a storehouse of intergenerational memory, a weapon of epistemological resistance, and a site for imagining survivable futures beyond colonial-capitalist systems. Because dreaming is situated in the marrow, it makes Indigenous bodies the targets of extractivist violence by colonial settlers who have lost their capacity to dream. The author situates Indigenous futurism in a post-apocalyptic world of dystopian ecology in which climate crisis and colonial violence are interconnected. In this setting, nature provides the guidance and sustenance that are essential for the survival of Indigenous populations. It is not just a backdrop for the story but a space of refuge and survivance (survival and resistance) for Indigenous characters who nurture a reciprocal relationship with the more-than-human world. For these reasons, Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves represents what scholars such as Grace Dillon and Kyle Whyte describe as Indigenous futurism’s dual purpose of confronting dystopian realities caused by colonial exploitation and connecting futurity to Indigenous philosophies of relationality. The novel resists the notion of apocalyptic finality by showing the inseparability of ecological and cultural survival.

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India's climate crisis disproportionately burdens rural women, increasing labor and health risks. Structural inequality impedes adaptation. True resilience requires securing women's agency, integrating their Traditional Knowledge in farming, and ensuring equitable leadership in climate policy.

Paper long abstract

The climate crisis poses a profound, differential threat in developing countries like India, amplifying existing socio-economic disparities. Its impacts are deeply gendered as women are closely tied to natural resources for livelihoods and household sustenance. Climate hazards, specifically chronic water scarcity, droughts, and intensifying heatwaves, directly translate into an increased burden for women, compelling them to undertake longer, more frequent trips for water and to work extended hours in agriculture, leading to acute time poverty. Despite facing disproportionate burdens due to water scarcity, crop failure, and climate-induced displacement, these women play a key role as agents of adaptation and resistance.

Indigenous women function as custodians of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, leveraging practices like seed preservation, crop diversification, and regenerative agriculture to build community food sovereignty and localized climate insurance against shocks. Their adaptation roles vis-à-vis climate change are well recognized. However, there are fundamental barriers to women’s adaptive capacity. Critical gender inequalities in statutory and customary land tenure security, which restrict rights to access, manage, and inherit land, prevent women from accessing vital agricultural information, credit, and decision-making platforms necessary for effective climate adaptation. Policy responses often overlook these socio-legal dimensions, restricting their engagement in the climate restoration programmes.

In light of the above, the present paper is an attempt to highlight the survival role of women in the face of climate change. Using narrative as a method of data collection, the paper aims to present how women play a critical role in ensuring climate resilience in certain parts of India.

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This paper will demonstrate how sacred cosmologies provide alternative perspectives on resilience, sustainability, and gender justice.

Paper long abstract

Menstruation, often framed as taboo within patriarchal societies, is simultaneously celebrated as sacred in specific cultural contexts. The Kamakhya temple in Assam, where the goddess is believed to menstruate annually during the Ambubachi Mela, provides a striking counter-narrative to dominant discourses of pollution and exclusion. This paper examines menstruation as both an embodied experience and a symbolic practice, situating it within broader debates on gender, ritual, and ecology. Drawing on textual analysis of ritual narratives, ethnographic insights, and secondary literature, the study highlights how Kamakhya’s cosmology connects menstrual cycles with ecological rhythms of fertility, water, and regeneration. In an era of climate change, these symbolic linkages acquire new urgency: shifting monsoons, ecological degradation, and livelihood disruptions reshape not only material survival but also ritual practices and cultural imaginaries. By linking menstruation and goddess symbolism with ecological cycles, the paper argues that indigenous epistemologies provide alternative frameworks for rethinking resilience, sustainability, and gender justice. This sociological inquiry underscores the importance of integrating embodied experiences and sacred cosmologies into global discourses on ecological crisis and social inclusion.