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'It's a conspiracy theory and climate change': of beastly encounters and cervine disappearances in Himalayan India
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-21, 06:02 authored by Nayanika MathurThis article traces the introduction of the category of climate change into the Indian Himalaya. Climate change emerged as an explanation for recurring incidences of humananimal conflict and the disappearance of a protected species through the labors of the local state bureaucracy. Even as the narratives on climate change were being imbued with expert authority, counternarratives dealing with the very same phenomena voiced by long-term residents of the Himalayas were summarily dismissed by the state as constituting mere conspiracy theories. This article accords both these narratives equal space and details the effects of the explanatory force of climate change in this region. On the basis of ethnography centered on humans, big cats, bears, and musk deer, it argues for an enhanced ethnographic attention to the political work done in the name of climate change. The article questions the analytic utility of the concept of the Anthropocene and ends by outlining certain distinctive characteristics of climate change as a concept and call to act upon the world.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Journal of Ethnographic TheoryISSN
2049-1115Publisher
HAU Society for Ethnographic TheoryExternal DOI
Issue
1Volume
5Page range
87-111Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-02-13First Open Access (FOA) Date
2017-02-13First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2017-02-13Usage metrics
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