Children’s entanglements with water : the local-global interconnections

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Kapoor, Ambika (2022) Children’s entanglements with water : the local-global interconnections. NEOS, 14 (1).

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Abstract

The Pahari Korwas have been listed as a ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group’ in the Indian Constitution. The impact of deforestation and mining in the mineral-rich region of Chhattisgarh, where they reside, has resulted in displacement, increased environmental pollution, and poverty, further increasing their vulnerability (George 2015). Through an illustration from my ethnographic work in an Indigenous community in Sarguja district, Chhattisgarh, I explore children’s everyday lives, particularly focusing on their engagement with hardships and risks. The research took place over a period of seven months. The methods included observations, informal dialogues with children, drawings, and photographs, which were then analyzed thematically. These engagements with children took place at their schools, homes, neighborhoods, and during walks from one place to another. Children’s lives are directly or indirectly affected by global events, including migration, capitalism, colonialism, and natural calamity (Hanson et al. 2018), creating a ‘globalized childhood’. I meaningfully engage with the impact of global events in the lives of children, including how these events are shaped by history, politics, and, in particular, climate change. Using human relationships with water as an example, this research shows that the local and global are not distinct from one another, as Hanson et al. (2018) and Twum-Damso Imoh et al. (2018) have previously argued in terms of how these two intertwine. I extend this argument by illustrating how the local is impacted by global events, often disproportionately impacting the marginalized communities.

ORCID iDs

Kapoor, Ambika ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6349-6638;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)