Date: 10 December 2024 | Time: 2:30 - 3:30 pm IST | Venue: SH2

About the Book

By the canons of orthodox social science, countries like India are not supposed to have an environmental consciousness. They are, as it were, 'too poor to be green'. In this deeply researched book, Ramachandra Guha challenges this narrative by revealing a virtually unknown prehistory of the global movement set far outside Europe or America. Long before the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and well before climate change gained currency as a term, ten remarkable individuals wrote with deep insight about the dangers of environmental abuse from within an Indian context.

In strikingly contemporary language, Rabindranath Tagore, Radhakamal Mukerjee, J.C. Kumarappa, Patrick Geddes, Albert and Gabrielle Howard, Mira, Verrier Elwin, K.M. Munshi and M. Krishnan wrote about the forest and the wild, soil and water, urbanization and industrialization. Positing the idea of what Guha calls 'livelihood environmentalism' in contrast to the 'full-stomach environmentalism' of the affluent world, these writers, activists and scientists played a pioneering role in shaping global conversations about humanity's relationship with nature.

Spanning more than a century of Indian history and decidedly transnational in reference, Speaking with Nature offers rich resources for considering the threat of climate change today.

About the Speakers

Professor Ramachandra Guha 

Professor Ramachandra Guha, a renowned historian and biographer based in Bengaluru, has held prestigious teaching positions at Yale, Stanford, the University of Oslo, the London School of Economics, and the Indian Institute of Science. Widely recognised for his contributions to history, environment, and social sciences, he is one of India’s leading public intellectuals.

His notable works include The Unquiet Woods, a pioneering environmental history, and A Corner of a Foreign Field, a celebrated social history of cricket, hailed as one of the finest books on the sport. His magnum opus, India After Gandhi, was acclaimed globally, earning recognition as a book of the year and a book of the decade by prominent publications such as The Economist and The Hindu.

Professor Guha has received numerous accolades, including the Padma Bhushan, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Fukuoka Prize, and an honorary doctorate from Yale University. Twice named among the world's most influential intellectuals by Prospect magazine, he is one of only three Indians honoured as an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Historical Association.

Dr Bharath Sundaram 

Dr Bharath Sundaram is an ecologist with an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the dynamic relationship between environment and society. Before joining Krea University, he was Associate Professor of Human Ecology at Nalanda University. He holds a PhD from Manipal University, a Master’s from Pondicherry University, and an undergraduate degree from Madras University.

Dr Sundaram integrates ecological sciences with insights from environmental history, subaltern studies, ethnography, and environmental politics to address contemporary environmental challenges. His research spans biodiversity, plant ecology, conservation, sustainability, and political ecology. He teaches courses such as Sustainability and Climate Change, Political Ecology of Biodiversity Conservation, and Scientific Reasoning.

His past work includes studies on human-elephant conflict, tiger monitoring, and invasive species. His current projects involve long-term monitoring in the Western Ghats and a pan-India study on forests, human populations, and biodiversity. His research is supported by organisations like the International Foundation for Science and the National Geographic Society.

All are welcome!