Enclosing the pristine myth: The case of Madhav National Park, India.

摘要

Indian conservation policy excludes local people from residing in or utilizing National Parks. This paper, using historical, interview and focus group data, seeks to demystify contemporary exclusion-induced antagonisms amongst people living adjacent to Madhav National Park. It presents these antagonisms as the product of a "double fetishization" of nature. First, it connects present exclusionary policy to long-standing traditions of the exercise of elite power over territorial claims and the "production" of nature, challenging the apparent dichotomy between nature as a commodity and as a symbol, and grounding contemporary conflict in older struggles over access rights. Second, it links exclusion to late 20th century, western, environmentalist, ideological and de-contextualized pre-occupations with biodiversity and pristine wilderness preservation within third world spaces. It provides an example of deep-seated, persistent human intervention in an "untouched" nature and indicates a widespread need to re-evaluate strict exclusion and similar policies that falsely detach nature from culture.