Book
Who Will Save the Forests?

Knowledge, Power and Environmental Destruction (paperback)

Conflicts over the management of forest resources are examined, comparing situations in India, Finland and the USA. The examples illustrate how the interrelationships between people and their environment differ depending on the knowledge systems of their respective societies. It is shown that Western scientific knowledge in particular, has been used to marginalize the knowledge and practice of ancient rural communities despite the fact that it is these societies that have managed the environment in a sustainable fashion for centuries. The latter implies that the only truly sustainable development strategy is one that restores the autonomy of local arrangements based on alternative conceptions of reality. Therefore, (political) power should be transferred to local communities, innovative and alternative technology should be made available and promoted, and most importantly, there should be a better understanding and an integration of non-modern systems of knowledge.

Table of contents
  1. 1. A Systems-of-Knowledge Analysis of Deforestation
    Tariq Banuri, Frederique Apffel-Marglin
  2. 2. The Environmental Crisis and the Space for Alternatives: India, Finland and Maine
    Tariq Banuri, Frederique Apffel-Marglin
  3. 3. An Alternative System of Knowledge: Fields and Forests in Abujhmarh
    Savyasaachi
  4. 4. The Malign Encounter: The Chipko Movement and Competing Visions of Nature
    Ramachandra Guha
  5. 5. The Benign Encounter: The Great Move and the Role of the State in Finnish Forests
    Jukka Oksa
  6. 6. The Internal Conflict: Contract Logging, Chainsaws and Clear-Cuts in Maine Forestry
    David Vail
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