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Abstract: Despite growing recognition for a rights-based approach in forest governance for socially just and ecologically sustainable outcomes, many Indigenous communities continue to grapple with recognition of their resource rights. The passing of the Forest Rights Act in 2006 in India was meant to tackle this historical injustice by recognising Indigenous people’s rights over land and forests. However, abysmal implementation, entrenched power asymmetries and the inability of Indigenous people to claim due rights have caused serious concern to their very survival. This seminar will discuss if the scholarly argument in favour of a more decentralized forest governance with state and non-state actors located at multiple levels of the jurisdictional or administrative scale could be applied in this context. I argue that these actors have different interests, goals and powers to perform different functions in a resource system, requiring a deep analysis of power relations and the interactions between cross-scale multiple actors. The empirical material is drawn from the study of the Van Rajis, a forest-dwelling tribal group in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Bio: Dipika Adhikari is a PhD candidate in the Resources, Environment and Development Group at the Crawford School of Public Policy. Dipika was trained in geography at the University of Delhi. Her PhD research explores different forms of power operating at polycentric or multi-level institutional arrangements that shape outcomes for provisioning of Indigenous resource rights in India. Dipika is a committee member in Asia-Pacific and Business Delegated Ethical Review Committee at ANU and she takes honour in serving the University in its efforts to uphold high standard of research quality.

Primary supervisor: Professor Kuntala-Lahiri Dutt Associate supervisors: Professor Sango Mahanty, Dr Phuc Xuan To, Professor Peter Kanowski (Fenner School of Environment and Society), and Associate Professor Prakash Kashwan (external supervisor, University of Connecticut)