Manish K. Verma is Professor, Head and Deputy Coordinator of the UGC–Special Assistance Programme in the Department of Sociology at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University, Lucknow, India. Previously, he served in the Department of College Education, Rajasthan, as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Lecturer in Selection Grade for 10 years and briefly at NTPC, Corporate Office, New Delhi, as Sociologist. With a doctorate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he has more than 22 years of teaching and research experience. He has published many books, including Globalisation,Social Justice and Sustainable Development in India (2017), Peri-urbanEnvironment (2017), Globalization and Environment: Discourse, Policiesand Practices (2015) and Development, Displacement and Resettlement (2004). Several of his research papers and chapters have been published in journals and edited volumes. He is a member of various professional bodies such as the International Sociological Association, Indian Sociological Society and Rajasthan Sociological Association. At present, he is a member of the Managing Committee of the Indian Sociological Society. His main research interests include environment and development, involuntary displacement, urban ecology, social justice and globalisation.
This book provides a comprehensive account of asymmetric linkage in the trilogy of environment, development and sustainability and its impact on society. It examines varied perspectives and issues of development related to environmental destruction and sustainability challenges. By examining the recent trends of development and recording the dilemmas which are creating ecological imbalances, it explores some alternative ways of development to achieve sustainability. Divided into three parts, it has a broad canvass. The first section examines critically the ‘perspectives’ on ecology, practice and ethics, rural development and man–forest interaction in the metropolis. ‘Issues’ of dams, river, agricultural distress, environmental migration, eco-tourism, ecological conservation and land acquisition are assessed in part second. ‘Alternative’ means of development is explored in part third by incorporating chapters on the constructed wetland, biofuels, subsistence economy, water and traditional knowledge practice. This interdisciplinary book is of immense significance to academicians, researchers, postgraduate and graduate-level students of social sciences and environmental studies; policymakers, development practitioners and NGOs working in the area of environment and development.