Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I will examine the bioregional and environmental history of the place to contextualize the ecological and cultural practices of the Kodagu coffee plantations of Southern India within the post-/decolonial framework of bioregional reinhabitation.

Paper long abstract:

Given that reinhabitation is an essential domain in bioregional thought and practice that aims to restore and maintain the natural systems of an injured land, this paper will investigate how indigenous Kodava people decolonize the colonial coffee plantation practices across colonial and post-colonial timeframes. Analysing the complex interrelationships between the reinhabitory practices on Kodagu’s plantations and environment, this paper argues that bioregional reinhabitation in Kodagu takes a decolonial approach to transform the non-native coffee into a bioregional crop in Kodagu and in the process overcomes ecological crises in indigenous landscapes. In doing so, I will examine the bioregional and environmental history of the place to contextualize the ecological and cultural practices of the Kodagu coffee plantations of Southern India within the post-/decolonial framework of bioregional reinhabitation.