| ID | 132375 |
| Title Proper | Silencing the opposition |
| Other Title Information | the state v. civil society in India's Ganges river basin |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Schiff, Jennifer S |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | India's Ganges River has suffered from massive amounts of pollution for decades, and despite numerous attempts, the Indian government has failed to clean up this historic water resource. This governance failure prompted the growth of civil society groups whose stated purposes included the mitigation of Ganges pollution and the empowerment of community-based solutions. These types of groups, however, have not found sustained success in alleviating Ganges pollution, despite their compatibility with the constitutional decentralization of Indian water policy. A case study of one of these civil society organizations, the Sankat Mochan Foundation (SMF), serves as a first step in assessing the efficacy of this community-based approach to Ganges pollution mitigation. From a broader perspective, the story of the SMF speaks to the difficulties inherent in environmental policy decentralization and to the struggles of norm creation and diffusion across societies. Indeed, this case is particularly instructive, as it exposes potential vulnerabilities in the literature regarding the role of civil society groups as norm entrepreneurs. Rather than allow for the democratization of water policy, as called for by the Indian constitution, the case of the SMF suggests the Indian government has entrenched centralization to the point of diffusing civil society opposition and ultimately compromising the overall impact of its resistance. |
| `In' analytical Note | International Studies Perspectives Vol.15, No.2; May 2014: p.229-242 |
| Journal Source | International Studies Perspectives Vol.15, No.2; May 2014: p.229-242 |
| Key Words | Civilization ; India ; Civil Society ; State Politics ; State - Civil Relations ; Ganga River ; Ganges River Basin ; Environmental Security ; Politics ; Political Norms ; Water Policy ; Decentralization ; Environmental Policy ; Sankat Mochan Foundation - SMF ; Ganges Pollution ; Empowerment |