Contemporary thinking favours local participation and local stake-holding under a decentralized, democratic framework as the just and efficient solution to contemporary South Asian environmental dilemmas and crises. In a series of case studies and more extensive audits, a group of mainly Nordic and American authors seek to substantiate, qualify or criticize this formula. Covering both urban and rural environments, the hills and the plains, the book provides insights into the actual management and mismanagement of resources in India and Pakistan. Contents Income Distribution and Environmental...

This volume discusses environmental change, natural resource exploitation and the prospect for ecological sustainability in Southeast Asia. The contributors including sociologists, geographers, anthropologists, economists, political economists and historians, presents the findings of recent archival and field research mainly from ongoing programmes of team research based in European universities and institutes. 
Among the themes discussed are European and indigenous perceptions of the environment; historical processes of environmental change; the politics of resource...