Author Biography
Georgina Drew, PhD, is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. From 2011-2013, she served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at The New School’s India China Institute where she helped coordinate a project on Everyday Religion and Sustainable Environments in the Himalaya with funding from the Henry Luce Foundation. Georgina’s work is centered in issues of environmental subjectivity, gender and sustainable resource management, social movement studies, and the cultural and religious politics of development. She has also supervised research in various Himalayan locations in China, India, and Nepal.
Abstract
Showcasing papers from a panel at the American Anthropological Association in 2012, the Introduction to this special issue on Developing the Himalaya highlights how each article in this collection advances critical perspectives and emerging themes on the politics of development planning and practice, with a specific emphasis on natural resource use. The author provides context for each of the articles featured, highlighting the pressing issue of survival challenges and the need for liveable features in the Himalaya, while identifying the key contributions of each submission. Covering development trends and politics in India and China, the contributions point to the need for participatory, people-centric policies that encourage meaningful capacity building while fostering resilience in this ecologically significant and culturally rich geographical region.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank all of the contributors to the double panel that inspired this special issue and which took place on 16 November 2012 at the American Anthropological Association’s (AAA’s) annual meeting in San Francisco, California. This includes Kelly Alley, Zohra Ismail Beben, Jonathan Pascal Demenge, Brendan Galipeau, Mabel Denzin Gergan, Stephan Gros, Jamon Van Den Hoek, Laur Kiik, and Edwin Schmitt. Their panel presentations enriched the scope of debate and helped to expand the visibility of anthropological engagements with development in the Himalaya at the AAA’s annual conference. The author is also deeply grateful to the panel discussants Bryan Tilt of Oregon State University and Jeremy Spoon of Portland State University. Their commentary helped connect the points of inquiry among the contributions and itemize areas for clarification and amplification. Finally, the author would like to thank the ever-energetic, enthusiastic, and compassionate journal editors Sienna R. Craig and Mark Turin for their support and faith in this compilation. The author additionally extends gratitude to Hannah R. G. McGehee for her help in coordinating the issue.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Drew, Georgina. 2014. Developing the Himalaya: Development as if Livelihoods Mattered. HIMALAYA 34(2).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol34/iss2/7
