TRIBAL POLITICS AND DISCOURSES OF ENVIRONMENTALISM

In India, state-led developmentalism has recently been challenged by t he discourse of environmentalism. Among the various streams of environ mentalism, Ecological Marxism has been the most dominant. Its marrying of two concerns-social justice and ecological sustainability-has made this ideology highly appealing to social activists working with triba l communities in western india. Yet closer examination reveals that th e dynamics of tribal politics often strain against lire discourse of e nvironmentalism and have an ambivalent attitude towards development. T his paper analyses conflicts between middle-class activists and tribal leaders within a trade union of tribal peasants in Madhya Pradesh and argues that their disparate political strategies and postures stem fr om sharp differences in the ways in which they conceptualise the place of the 'tribal' in relation to 'nature'. The paper shows that the dis course of environmentalism is neither consistent nor complete, but con sists of the interweaving of often contradictory political thought and action.