Human Ecology and livelihoods

A sociological perspective
 Humankind
• Evolutionary processes – primitive plants and animals took
over a million years to evolve – (1.8 million species)
• Humans – our species, developed civilization 10,000- 12,000
years ago
• How and why did a single species become dominant over all
other species?
Major characteristics of mankind as a species

• A super brain –for enormous cognitive power..

• The power of speech- the highest communicative ability….
• A hand and opposing thumb- for exceptional psychomotor
skills…
• A vertical posture – to free hands
• Highly developed social skills- to form communities
• We are only one of the 1.8 million species on earth – a cog in
the wheel of GAIA- Mother Earths bio geo chemical
processes
• The Gaia Theory
The advent of man in India- migration for
natural resource wealth

• Changing theories – overland from North Africa

• Ice age migration across land bridges from Africa

• Later influx from Eurasia

 Pre Historical era

• In the beginning early Neolithic period - Bhimbetka/ stone

tools to iron implements between 30,000 to 10,000 years BC
 Pre history to early historical periods
• Forager community

• Genetic mixing of Northern and Southern races bypassing aboriginal people-

who remained foragers – Central Highland tribal People
• Diversified cultures – settled agro pastoralists/ migrant pastoralist/ artisans/
traders
• Rulers and the ruled…..

• Acquisition of land

• Common property to individual ownership

• Jati and castes based on livelihoods created India’s great cultural heterogeneity
Gradual change in landscape

1 4

2 5

Natural landscape forest

Cultural landscape degraded forest

3 Cultural landscape shifting

cultivation
Cultural landscape settled
agriculture
 The formation of culture

• Foragers – hunting gatherers and fishing

• Shifting cultivation

• Early farming-Western India –

wheat/ semiarid millets/ barley/ cotton

• Eastern India and coastal belt rice

Change from shifting cultivation to early

settled farming and irrigation systems
based on cattle dung and drought animals
 Evolving livelihood strategies
• 10-12 thousand years- hunter gatherers- clans had early governance-
leaders and followers
• Bringing resources on the door step – broadcasting seeds 10,000 years ago
• 6000 years ago cattle herders and settled farmers- wheat, barely, cotton
• Displacement of foragers / scattered rural villages in riverside hut -
development of pottery and farm implements
• Housing patterns based on climate and available building material
• Crops diversified to suite climatic variations
• Beginning conflicts over land and resources
• Formation of cultures and community living
What is culture?
 What is culture?
• Culture is dynamic changing phenomenon of human
behaviour
• The central core of culture is the use of patterns of life based
on traditions they are influenced by their surrounds
• Culture is about how people live and their livelihoods in their
homeland.
• How they manage their land and resources at a local level.

• How they govern their societies?

• Culture is NOT ONLY about art, craft and drama

 Traditional livelihoods

• Folk cultures (traditional livelihoods)are based on the location

where they have lived for generations.
• Traditional (indigenous) cultures have over long periods of
time altered the environment to maximise resource use.
• This has led to cultural landscapes being created from natural
landscapes.
Foragers
Farmers

Pastoralists

Fisherfolk

Artisans

Traders

Spiritual leaders
 Livelihood strategies
Ecosystem people and cultural ecology

 FORAGERS

• Forest people (tribal folk) use NTFP and

timber for housing and energy for cooking
and heating from fuelwood.

 FISHERFOLK

• Wetland, riverine and coastal people use

aquatic biodiversity as primary source of
livelihood
 Livelihood strategies
Ecosystem people and cultural ecology

 FARMERS

• Traditional farmers: Shifting cultivators,

settled agriculture, paddy farmers,
terrace farming.

 PASTORALIST

• Grassland people are pastoralist whose

livestock depends on grazing- mountain
and dryland shepherds
 Evolving occupations

• Occupations- potters, artisans and artists are traditionally

strongly linked to nature- dance drama, dress codes, myths
and tribal healers and religious customs
• Traders

• Rulers

• Spiritual leaders

(Witch craft to Philosophers)

• Jyati → Castes
 Societal Change
Rural Agricultural Society to Urabanization

• Indus Saraswati civilization – 4000 years ago

• Gangetic centers -1000 BC

• Maurya and Gupta Empires, Ashoka Rock Edict

• 1st century AD – extensive rock cut architecture/ irrigation

systems - spread of agriculture
• Governance over resources
 Changing patterns of culture
Maurya Empires (400-200 BC) Gupta Empires (300 BC to 500 AD)

Ashoka 100 BC

1st century AD – organised agriculture with irrigation (500 to 900 AD)

Reference to Southern Kingdoms- 500 to 900 AD pallava and

Chalukya Kingdoms

North – South/ Aryan – Dravidian invasion

Greek influence - Alexander invasions

 Indian kingdoms

• Hindu/ Buddhist/ Hindu states

• Muslim Invasions – 1024 - Mohammad of Gazani

• Rajput states 9th and 10th century

Moghul Empire British Empire

1500- 1750 1600- 1947
( East India Company)
Moghul taxation
British taxation/ land and
resource over exploitation
 New cultural influences
• Pre Moughal invasion- Muhamad of Ghazni 1024

• Vasco Da Gama - 1498

• Moghul India- Babar 1526, Akbar- 1556-1605

• Portuguese/ Dutch/ French/ British traders 1500’s and 1600’s

• British East India Company – January 1600

• Jehangir - the Naturalist 1605 to 1627

• Shah Jahan - the architect 1628 to 1658

• Aurangzeb - the expansionist 1658 to 1707

• Maratha Empire – Shivaji 1674 to Bajirao 1818

• British dominance from traders to rulers 1850’s

 Understanding Culture

• Understanding human development – Interdisciplinary/

history / geography/ biology and biogeography/ migration/

land and resource use/ language/ psychomotor activities/

social behaviour/ governance….

 Wilderness ecosystems
(Biodiversity) → Human dominated landscapes

• Our place in a complex changing world in the wide space of the

universe and – on our earth.
• Understanding our environment/ spatial differences: biomes/
ecosystems/ landscapes/ biodiversity altered by human actions.
• What is left unmodified in ‘nature’ is virtually absent today…
Islands in a matrix of human dominated landscapes
• Thus most land management systems are related to human
dominated landscapes (social scapes)
 Human Ecology- Cultural ecology

• How humans live on earth- relate to their environment- change their

environment to maximise resource use - readapt to the changed
environment

Landuse Landuse
•Carefully used landscapes •Degraded landscapes
(Sustainable) (Unsustainable)

• Relationship to human density and resource use

• Relationship to level of consumerism –

consumptive/ productive use of resources

 Reversal to Converted to

Realisation Impacts

Overuse Sustainable
use
 Changing landscapes

 Culture is related to living in a close knit community

• Lifestyle and livelihoods

• Professions

• Religion

• Myth

• Art work

• Food preferences

• Dress codes

• Historical events
 Culturally distinctive landuse strategies

• Based on biogeographic natural landscapes

• Altered by historical events and governance of land and

resources
• Alternating periods of homogenization and fragmented
multiple states during history
 The Changing Cultures of India

• Our multiple cultures have undergone great changes over

time- by adapting to governance regimes in society, religions,
invasions, and environmental change