Click the star to add/remove an item to/from your individual schedule.
You need to be logged in to avail of this functionality.
Log in
Accepted Paper
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
Climate change, gender and nature: narratives of survival, resilience and resistance storytelling, ritual, and ecological memory in Indigenous and gendered contexts
Session 2 Tuesday 16 June, 2026, -