Paper short abstract:

Responding to the central theme of the panel, which emphasizes the role of history, power and politics, and giving special attention to the question of access, this paper explores the formation of the new commons in Indian Eastern Himalaya.

Paper long abstract:

Rangeland conservation policies across South Asia and Africa are based on the orthodox understanding of rangeland functions and state-induced pastoral development initiatives. Given the larger issues of land tenure changes and contemporary conservation challenges, pastoralists are losing access to their commons at an alarming rate.

In the year 1998, the state of Sikkim implemented a grazing ban, which was followed by massive forceful evictions across the state, especially west Sikkim. In the Khangchendzonga National Park, where I conducted my PhD research, the impacts were particularly detrimental to the pastoral livelihoods, which resulted in an overall decline in pastoralism and exclusive access of the elite pastoralists inside the park. After more than two decades of the ban, however, the pastoral livelihoods are again picking up, especially among the new generation.

In this paper, I explore the long-term trajectories of the loss of commons and the emergence of new commons after two decades of the ban. I am particularly keen on exploring the question of access across the decommonised and the newly commonised rangelands of Sikkim.