88 – Mapping the Geo-politics of Risk Geographies in the Himalayas
This panel aims to study the Himalayas as a geo-political ecosystem, focusing on the diverse causes and implications of risk and disaster in the Himalayas. Extreme environmental events that are on the rise in scale and frequency in the Himalayan region are mired in human and more-than-human causes. The fragile topography of the young mountains and colonial legacies of ‘development’ in the region interact to create multiple geographies of risk. For a comprehensive understanding of the Himalayan landscape, this panel aims to initiate a conversation between environmental history, political ecology, anthropology and human geography. The panel aims to explore questions such as: how have the diverse meanings of what constitutes ecological risk in upland ecologies evolved historically? How do we map the diversity of lived experiences and complexity of disaster vulnerability that emerge in Himalayas, owing to the geographical, social and economic diversity within the Himalayan ecosystem? Papers are particularly welcome that delve into lesser-known spatial/thematic case-studies of the Himalayan landscapes of risk. Potential themes could include:
• Colonial legacies of ecological intervention in the region
• Nature of interaction between state and non-state methods of disaster risk mitigation
• More than human causes and implications of climate change
• Transborder geographies of risk and migration
• Conflict, militarisation and ecological implications
