About the Book

Ecology needs contributions from a number of scholarly fields. Following an inter-disciplinary approach the book raises global and local issues about the great challenge that humanity faces - to combine the marginal society's needs for survival and security. Human well-being lies in the cognitive revolution where ecology and culture co-evolve.
In this lucidly written book one encounters the fundamental evolutionary dilemma: the emergence of cooperative relationships in a fierce competitive scenario. And to resolve it the book argues on the biological and cultural evolution of cooperation drawing evidence from the social structures of monkeys men and deities. It fashions an integrative view of human well-being where material and non-material coalesces.
The book denies negative relationship of poverty and environment not as social chauvinism but for singular materialistic notions of human well-being. Though Himachal Pradesh is a model of social harmony and development for the other Himalayan states there is an apprehension that the gigantic interventions may cause disruptions in these socio-cultural processes. For evolutionary psychologists and biologists the volume is a rich source of novel hypotheses; it may also serve a useful reference book for all the social scientists pursuing environmental issues.
 

About Author

Prof. Raghubir Singh Pirta teaches psychology at the Himachal Pradesh University Shimla. Soon after his college education at Dehra Dun he began ethological studies on the social life of monkeys in various parts of India where he had first hand encounters with the grassroots social issues involving man and animal.
The theoretical understanding of Dr. Pirta refined in several brief sojourns to the Center for Ecological Sciences I.I.Sc. Bangalore however it is with the Chipko activists in the Himalayas that he imbibed the deep humane spirit about nature. These wide-ranging experiences make him feel at home with the grassroots and global issues.
 

Contents

Preface

Life and its Support System
Ecology and Sustainability
Water Forest and Land
Diversity of Views
Evolution of Cooperation
Native Wisdom
Institution of Deity
Future Agenda
Appendix 1:Moratorium on Commercial Felling of Trees
in the Himalayas
Appendix 2:Declaration of the Save Himalaya Movement
Appendix 3:National Parks and Sanctuaries in
Himachal Pradesh
Appendix 4:List of Some of the Plants Eaten by the Rhesus
Monkey (R) and Hanuman Langur (L) in
Himachal Pradesh
 

Additional Info.