The Interface of Science, Society and Politics in Waste Management of Darjeeling Himalayas

2024

Overview of the Project

The Interface of Science, Society and Politics in the Waste Management of Darjeeling Himalayas consider waste to be one of the most neglected fields in Humanities and Social Sciences research, and most of the dominant scholarship on the study of waste has emerged from the technical and scientific domain. This project aims to bring forth the interface of science, society, and politics in waste management by focusing on Darjeeling Himalayan, a town in the Eastern Himalayas. This project considers that waste has its own life of production, distribution, and rejection, which play a vital role in shaping human society, culture, and interaction with the environment.

Funding Agency: JP Narayan National Centre of Excellence in the Humanities, IIT Indore

rocky mountain covered with snow during daytime

Methodology

The project undertakes its studies in Darjeeling Himalayan town in the Eastern Himalayas. This study is largely based on qualitative methods of data collection. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted at two levels, societal and organizational levels, to understand the nature of waste management, its loopholes and the differential generation of waste at different levels. At the organizational level, structured interviews will be conducted with various stakeholders, activists, and individuals who are associated with waste management issues. At the societal level, focused group interviews, participant observation as well as semi-structured interviews will be conducted with different sections of the population.

Deliverables

The major outcome of the project would be in the form of research papers in some of the leading academic journals. This project also aims to provide a framework for a new policy towards waste management in Himalayan towns like Darjeeling Hills. Through its fieldwork data, this project will assist those associated with waste management to understand the flow of waste and its problems at individual, household and organization levels.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Sangay Tamang, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad

Project Staff: Bhumika Rai