CULTURAL HERITAGE: IMPLICATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT

Book Details:

• Author: S.N. Chaudhary

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• Edition: First Edition

• ISBN: 9788131614365

• Pages: 181

• Cover: Hardcover

About the Book

More than 90 percent of the tribes in central India live in villages, and their lives revolve around their culture. The state remains functionally distant from most of them. This book sheds light on core elements of tribal culture, especially focusing on the Bhils and Gonds of Madhya Pradesh, who comprise around 74 percent of the tribal population in the state.

These cultural elements have persisted due to their vital socio-economic and environmental roles. Despite numerous development initiatives, tangible improvements in their lives have been minimal. Many development efforts either ignore or undermine their cultural foundations. The book critically examines how mainstream development has imposed a cultural cost, and how ignoring tribal heritage in policy-making creates ineffective outcomes.

It aims to equip change agents with culturally informed strategies to ensure inclusive, participatory, and sustainable development. A valuable resource for researchers, educators, policymakers, tribal representatives, and development practitioners.

Contents

• Introduction

• Bhils and Gonds of Madhya Pradesh

• Culture and Vital Demographic Events

• Sacred Groves

• Customary Laws

• Conclusions

About the Author / Editor

S.N. Chaudhary is the Tagore Fellow at the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and is affiliated with IGRMS, Bhopal. A prolific academic, he is a former National Fellow (ICSSR), Fellow at IIAS Shimla and SMH Paris, and has held senior positions including Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences at Barkatullah University. He has completed extensive fieldwork among First Nations in Canada and has authored or edited 36 books, supervised 42 PhDs, and led numerous national and international research projects and conferences. His current focus is on tribal culture and environmental sustainability.