Ghai, Dharam. 1994. "Environment, Livelihood, and Empowerment." Development and Change 25(1): 1-11.

Thesis:

Ghai argues from a social and political economy perspective on the environment that "issues of resource degradation and regeneration are intimately linked to questions of power, institutions, livelihood and culture" (p.9).

Summary:

Ghai as guest editor of a special issue on "Development and Environment: Sustaining People and Nature," provides an introduction to the articles in the volume which originated from a research programme on Environment, Sustainable Development and Social Change, sponsored by the United Nations. The programme "sought to integrate the physical and ecological with social, economic and political processes" (p.1) Ghai, as its director, holds that the research "emanates from a belief that programmes and projects concerned with conservation and sustainable development will only succeed on any scale when they address the social factors influencing the way people interact with the environment" (ibid.). These factors include employment, access to resources, property systems, gender relations and empowerment, or the "level of control people exert over resources and decision-making processes which affect the management of natural resources (ibid.)

Ghai, in his introduction of the articles, provides a discussion around the themes of the functioning of customary systems of resource management, and how these traditions and changes interact with livelihood strategies and ecological sustainability. Recent research reveals the importance of incorporating indigenous knowledge and new environmental research in "preserving the social and ecological viability of customary systems of resource management" (p.2). The works in the volume highlight how communities are adapting their frameworks to the increasing pressures of commercial development, the demands of an integrated global economy, and resource exploitation. The authors conclude that a large portion of research has been irrelevant to members of communities whose knowledge and experience has been ignored in development plans (p.4).

A second theme in Ghai's discussion is that of oppression and resistance in the political struggle for control over natural resources. Two articles in the volume critique the development process (1) for its environmental and social destructiveness, and (2) for the frequent violations of property rights, the displacement of people and the loss of their means of livelihood (p.5).

Thirdly, Ghai discusses issues of gender and property systems in relation to environmental degradation. The article by Joekes identifies how gender and ecology interact on three levels: (1) malnutrition and contamination constrain women in their role as household providers and child rearers; (2) the migration of men to work elsewhere indicates there is a lack of resources in the farmland or household left behind to women's care; (3) women often take the role as managers of land and environmental resources, especially when men have gone in search of work, but lack decision-making power, given male owenership of land and cattle.

Finally, Ghai discusses the themes of conservation and development. Many official programmes, in efforts to preserve and rehabilitate wilderness have "ignored the needs of the inhabitants... [and] in many cases have actually deprived them of means of subsistence..." through expulsion from protected lands (p.7). This, Ghai argues, makes many conservation programmes virtually indistinguishable from the destructive aspects of the development process (ibid.). Many attempts at conservation have failed to meet their objectives because they "have not been imbedded in the socio-economic and political context of the region" (ibid). Programmes that have been successful address the real concerns and needs of local communities, and enlist their participation (p.8).

Conservation efforts lack macro coherency when they are not integrated with the development context, and lack micro coherency when they are isolated from the concerns of local people (p.9). This, concludes Ghai, raises "fundamental questions about the meaning and content of development" (p.9). Reform in development and conservation programmes should enhance the livelihood opportunities of local communities, and be attentive to the priorities and rights (especially property rights) of women.

Keywords: resource management, development, sustainable development, power relations, indigenous knowledge, gender-ecology interactions, livelihood strategies.