Livelihood Practices Research Articles

The Middle Class of Malgudi

This paper discusses the depiction of ‘middle-class values’ by the celebrated Indian writer R.K. Narayan. Malgudi, a fictional South Indian town, is a prototypical representation of typical Indian society and the literary works of Narayan vividly mirror the everyday happenings. Content analysis of selected short stories, namely, ‘Forty-Five a Month,’ “Iswaran” and “Sweets for Angels,”; reveal the peculiarity of the Indian middle class and the author’s apt derision of certain lifestyle practices associated with modernity. Set in the backdrop of the 1930s, the stories capture the labyrinth of social issues and problems that plague South Asian societies. For instance, educational achievement is considered to be of utmost importance for preserving one’s status and the achievement of social mobility by the middle class. Ironically, educational success is often unsuccessful in buying freedom from alienating and oppressive livelihood practices engaging the middle class. There is also an accompanying erosion of ‘social capital’ and the expanding “radius of distrust.”

Remittance from Gurkha’s as a Source of Foreign Currencies and Contribution to Livelihood Practices of Left Behind

Study shows that remittances from the Gurkha’s are an important source of foreign currency for Nepal which has also been contributing as a reliable source of income for the family and relatives left behind. The article depicts the statistical data of Gurkhas who have been in service and retired, in the Indian army and the British army. For the study here, I have deployed the observation and purposive sampling method followed by semi-structured interview techniques to collect the required data. My respondents are the household heads of employees and office personnel of Indian and British pension camp for primary data, and records from respective camp for secondary data. The finding shows a huge amount of Indian rupees and British pound as a foreign currency remitted by Gurkhas. The data shows that there are NPR.1,28,52 crores inward remittance come to Nepal annually from Gurkhas. On top of that, the remittances are playing a vital role to uplift the economic condition of left behind. However, the absence of energetic migrants has changed the traditional socio-cultural construction of the community, the role of women in the household chore, and demographic composition. Positively, women are empowered and economically they get a reliable source of income throughout their life. While single parenting, the loneliness of old parents, and sacrifice for social relations seem very challenging to manage them as a social being. Findings also show that there is a tangible gap between the pace of global economic advancement and local economic advancement, which has encouraged youths to join the army.

Sienestystä pohjoisilla puupelloilla: metsien moninaiset taloudet ja plantaasiosentrismin ongelma

Sienestys ja muu keräily on Suomessa suosittua ja laajamittaista. Se sijoittuu useimmiten metsiin, joiden elämää rytmittää päätehakkuiden, istutusten ja harvennusten kierto. Nopeakiertoiseen puuntuotantoon keskittyvä ja sitä erilaisilla materiaalis-semioottisilla käytännöillä ensisijaistava metsätalous nimetään artikkelissa plantaasiosentriseksi, feministisen talousmaantieteen kapitalosentrismin kritiikkiä mukaillen. Plantaasiosentrisissä järjestyksissä plantaasimainen, yksipuolistava, hierarkkisesti järjestynyt, pakotettuun monilajiseen työhön perustuva ja ajallisia katkoksia tuottava alkutuotanto jättää varjoonsa keräilyn kaltaisia moninaisia toimeentulon käytäntöjä ja kaventaa ymmärrystä olemassa olevista ja mahdollisista metsien talouksista. Metsätalouden plantaasiosentrismin ongelmaa lähestytään soveltamalla postkapitalistista metodologiaa eli tarkastelemalla sienestystä omaehtoisena ja elinvoimaisena toimeentulon ja hyvinvoinnin tuottamisen muotona, sekä analysoimalla sen tilanteista ja osittaista yhteen kietoutumista plantaasimaisen tuotannon kanssa. Empiirisesti tarkastelu pohjautuu korvasienestäjien kanssa kerättyyn kävelyhaastatteluaineistoon. Analyysi osoittaa, että vaihtelevan materiaalisen toimeentulon lisäksi ja rinnalla sienestys tuottaa harjoittajilleen hyvinvointia ja merkityksellisiä suhteita. Nämä suhteet eivät ole vain ihmisten välisiä: sienestys avaa mahdollisuuksia tarkastella metsien talouksia osallistumisena monilajisten elämää ylläpitävien verkostojen toimintaan. Plantaasimainen puuntuotanto on kuitenkin toistaiseksi erottamaton osa sienestyksen materiaalisia olosuhteita ja siihen kiinnittyviä ymmärryksiä, ja se muokkaa myös metsän moninaisten talouksien käsitteellistämistä. Plantaaseihin sopeutuminen tai niiden läsnäolon tunnistaminen ei kuitenkaan väistämättä tarkoita plantaasiosentrismiin myöntymistä. Metsiin paikantuva moninainen tuotanto ja sen esiin lukeminen luo ja ylläpitää mahdollisuuksia tulla toimeen paitsi elinympäristöjä raunioittavien käytäntöjen kanssa, myös niistä riippumatta ja niiden jälkeen.

Impact of Microcredit on Employment Generation and Empowerment of Rural Women in India

This study examines the responsibility of microfinance institutions towards changes in the livelihood practices of the borrowers. Considering a total of 350 borrowers of West Bengal, the impact of microfinance on their lives has been observed empirically by applying different statistical tools. In this study, it has been observed that MFIs with its offerings support to shape up the lifestyle practices of the beneficiaries over time. The microcredit utilisation helps the borrowers to start up income-generating activities and engagement of manpower within their household and beyond. This study contributes to the extant literature on microfinance by comparing pre-loan and post-loan phases and identifies the contemporary role of MFIs. By considering the appropriate framework and approach, this study is explicable towards policymakers for designing further policies in this context and helps identify resources that need to flourish the current state in the future.

Periurbanisation and Livelihood Practices Exploring Everyday Life and Social Inequities in a Changing Agrarian Economy

Global phenomena such as urbanisation interact with the peripheries of cities by mediating through markets of land, labour, and agriculture, impacting livelihood practices of diverse communities. Through the lens of glocalisation, this paper examines the transitions in livelihood practices by examining how people mediate and negotiate with the forces of periurbanisation in their everyday life. It also examines how people construct and narrate these experiences across intersectional contexts of class, caste, gender, and age. The study region is located in the peripheries of the global city Bangalore. It draws from interviews conducted between September 2019 and March 2020, that capture practices, experiences, resource access, and changing context. While the study region witnessed a progressive linking of agriculture, labour, and land markets that spanned across regional and global levels, these markets interacted with each other resulting in a decline and localised agriculture system. People engaged with these changing markets based on their capacities of access to resources, while these engagements are also subject to interactions with state, non-state, and social institutions. However, since social groups across caste, gender, and age have skewed access to land and education that are critical for an engagement with a declining agrarian economy, the periurban process also has skewed implications resulting in persistent inequities.

Local disaster knowledge: Towards a plural understanding of volcanic disasters in Central Java's highlands, Indonesia

Local, traditional, or indigenous knowledge play an important role in disaster risk reduction (DRR), and many policy recommendations now call for the integration of local and expert views. While these attempts at integration are indeed promising, they are often built on assumptions that local knowledge is inherently separate from, or even subordinate to, expert perspectives. This article presents an account of what we call “local disaster knowledge” (LDK) in the Dieng Plateau of Central Java; a region characterised by volcanic craters that periodically expel poisonous concentrations of carbon dioxide gas. LDK is interpreted as a plural, embedded, relational and embodied knowledge system, which incorporates complementary forms of knowledge gained through everyday livelihood practice, scientific information and cultural‐religious beliefs. Rather than focusing on the “separateness” of local knowledge, this article forwards an ethnographic approach to disaster research that recognises the beneficial knowledge interactions that already exist (many of which occur informally), and the contextual reasons that explain local understandings of risk. Our findings advocate for the more genuine and equal inclusion of local views in global DRR policy and frameworks, as well as in the design and implementation of local level programmes.

Promising pipelines and hydrocarbon nationalism: the sociality of unbuilt infrastructure in indigenous Siberia

Promising pipelines and hydrocarbon nationalism: the sociality of unbuilt infrastructure in indigenous Siberia

Adaptive Capacity for Climate Change in Maldivian Rural Communities

The research presented in this paper studied the functional linkages between risk and adaptation appraisal and the psychosocial discourse variables that influence the outcomes for adaptive capacity of island communities to the impact of climate change. Qualitative data was gathered from focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews in five, purposively selected communities of the Maldives, from June to December 2015. The findings showed that risk appraisal was enhanced by direct experiences encountered and social construction of climate change. We found that a negative appraisal of adaptation arises due to lack of resources, fatalism and wishful thinking. While objective adaptive capacity was low, a higher subjective adaptive capacity was observed. The results also showed that people’s ecological knowledge of the reef-island systems depended on their livelihood practices, and that changes to modern livelihood practices can lead to loss of deep ecological knowledge and lead to dependency on external data only for adaptation. The findings add to the research on importance of meanings, ideas, behaviours and values of people, and the agency of such variables for positive appraisal of risks and adaptation.

Renewable energy consumption and robust globalization(s) in OECD countries: Do oil, carbon emissions and economic activity matter?

This study examines the impact of globalization(s) on renewable energy consumption in OECD countries by endogenizing per capita GDP, oil prices and per capita carbon emissions. We use robust globalization(s) as measured by the “classic”, “reconstructed” and “revisited” globalization indexes. The novel method of Machado and Silva Panel quantile regression (2019) approach is used to obtain robust findings for the renewable energy consumption-globalization nexus. The results confirm the presence of a long-run association between renewable energy consumption with globalization(s), per capita GDP, oil prices and per capita carbon emissions. The empirical results also describe that there are positive effects for per capita income, the real price of oil and carbon emissions per capita on the renewable energy consumption. In addition, a higher level of (overall, economics, social and political) classic globalization promotes renewable energy consumption, while the “reconstructed” and “revisited” economic globalization reduces the use of renewable energy consumption, and this finding is also robust to different measures of economic globalization. Moreover, the panel quantile regression reveals that renewable energy consumption increases the domestic economy in the middle (0.50) quantile group of the population through importing more advanced technology and positive spilling over markets, while the lower quantile group and the higher quantile group of the population are using non-renewable (coal, wood) energy because of the livelihood practice that is based on coal and wood (for the lower quantiles group of the population) and for the sake of speedy growth (for the higher quantiles group of the population) that worsens the environmental quality without caring for the contents of globalization.

Fishing Livelihoods and Diversifications in the Mekong River Basin in the Context of the Pak Mun Dam, Thailand

Fishing livelihoods are under stress in many regions of the world, including the lower Mekong river basin. Building on research on the socio-economic impacts of hydroelectric development, this paper explores the spatial dimensions of livelihood diversifications. Research in 2016 and 2017, involving 26 semi-structured interviews in nine upstream, downstream, tributary and relocated villages in the vicinity of the Pak Mun hydroelectric dam, provides insight into how villagers have coped and adapted fishing livelihoods over time. Results are consistent with other research that has detailed the adverse effects of hydroelectric development on fishing livelihoods. Interviewees in the nine communities in the Isan region of Thailand experienced declines in the abundance and diversity of fish valued as food, and engaged in other household economic activities to support their families, including rice farming, marketing of fishing assets and other innovations. Stories of youth leaving communities (rural-urban migration) in search of employment and education were also shared. Although exploratory, our work confronts theories that fishing is a livelihood practice of “last resort”. Narratives suggest that both fishing and diversification to other activities have been both necessary and a choice among villagers with the ultimate aim of offsetting the adverse impacts and associated insecurity created by the dam development.

Agricultural Intensification, Diversification and Migration as Livelihood Strategies Among Rural Scheduled Tribe Population of Palasbari Revenue Circle: A Case of India

The key objective of this study is to examine the livelihood practices and strategies adopted by the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population of the Palasbari Revenue circle, Assam, India. For empirical analysis, 132 households were surveyed from 6 areas dominated by the ST population, namely Kallapara N.C. (Satargaon), Jimirigaon, Rani Khamar, Chouthala, Jupangbari, and Kochpara, which aggregates to 553 sample populations. It was surveyed by stratified random sampling method from January to March 2020. The results show that livelihood diversification, agricultural intensification and temporal migration are three of the major strategies adopted by the population to meet their needs.

Effects of livestock loss and emerging livestock types on livelihood decisions around protected areas: Case studies from China and India

Increasing livestock grazing in forests has intensified human-wildlife conflicts and caused habitat degradation for threatened species. To balance conservation and local community development, it is crucial to understand if livestock loss in natural habitats plays a role in household livelihood decisions. We used the giant panda habitat in China and the tiger habitat in India as case studies to investigate if livestock loss impacts livestock holding size and if higher loss rate shifts households away from livestock grazing in the future. We applied negative binomial regression and cost-benefit analysis to household level data from 281 Chinese households and 369 Indian households. We found that the livestock loss rate did not impact the number of livestock in China, but it did negatively impact the number of livestock in India. Chinese households were more constrained by labor availability for livestock expansion, while Indian households were limited by financial capacity. However, households tended to ignore the potential livestock loss in future livelihood decisions for both landscapes. Emerging livestock types could change the dynamic and the Indian case indicates a possible win-win solution. New hybrid cattle produced more than seven times the net benefit, but with only 46% potential cost of livestock loss compared to traditional cattle. Therefore, households can simultaneously produce more profits and reduce livestock loss by shifting to hybrid cattle. As higher profit is more important than perceived livestock loss risk in deciding the livelihood practices, better market instruments and assistance should be provided to promote the change.

Towards Environmental Sustainability: Beliefs and Livelihood Practices of Tagbanuas in Buong Narra Palawan, Philippines

Tribes in upland areas serve as environmental stewards of their ancestral domains. The Tagbanuas in Buong Narra Palawan belong to the group of Tagbanuas, inhabiting the central areas in the province of Palawan Philippines. They practice their own culture, and beliefs in their livelihood. This study determine the profile of Tagbanua in terms of; origin and history; physical characteristics and political system. Their beliefs, rituals and agricultural practices that is geared towards environmental sustainability was also evaluated. Descriptive research methods using documentary analysis, observation, community immersion and video interview was employed. Results of the study showed that the Tagbanuas in Buong Narra Palawan strongly believed on the influenced of deities in their livelihood practices. Their means of safeguarding their environment is implied in their day to day activities as; rituals (pagdiwata, runsai, pagbubuwis, paglalambay); performed for good harvest. It also practiced to free from epidemic like cholera, dysentery and flu. The practice rituals in their swidden farm, honey and rattan gathering is also an implication of protecting their environment.

Antigua, Guatemala, Street Food Vendors

Based on long-term ethnographic research on livelihood practices in urban public spaces, I explore street food politics in Antigua, Guatemala. From various subjective vantage points, I describe the food vendors themselves, the handicraft vendors who constitute their primary clients, tourists who only by chance encounter them when purchasing handicrafts, and the city officials who are responsible for regulating the streets. I analyze the reasons why some food vending practices are permitted, despite regulations against them. Drawing on a theoretical framework that articulates Lefebvre's (1996) and Harvey's (2012) positions on rights to cities, I explain why such street food vendors persist in a highly regulated UNESCO World Heritage Site. I argue that claims of rights are not merely organized political actions but are exercised in the everyday practices of those who live and work on the street. Drawing on the concept of “gray space” from Yiftachel (2009) and shades of graying from Heyman and Smart (1999), I highlight the ambiguous social spaces and physical places that food vending and consumption takes place, to described what I call spatial permissibility, the practicing of ambiguously legal/illegal work in these gray and graying spaces.

Mobility, temporary migration and changing livelihoods in Zimbabwe's artisanal mining sector

This article examines mobility and trans-local livelihood practices linked to artisanal mining, exploring how movement in diverse socio-economic circumstances has profoundly shaped development dynamics in Zimbabwe. Following the fast-track land reforms in Zimbabwe, mobility across resettled large-scale (formerly white-owned) commercial farms created space for reshaping livelihoods across the country, and opened up mineral access to local populations. Beyond understanding mobility linked directly to land reform, we stress the need to appreciate diverse subsequent, interlinking and highly dynamic influences on mobility – as well as what mobility enables. We draw on ethnographic data gathered in three research sites in Mhondoro Ngezi district, in central Zimbabwe, analysing some of the changing socio-economic relations, exploitation concerns and opportunities linked to mobility and artisanal mining activities. As economic challenges have continued to multiply, the importance of artisanal mining – in many regions of the country – has intensified. Understanding mobility requires attention to both temporary and less temporary migration patterns and differentiated ways in which social networks and economic labour arrangements, including risks of mistreatment and new economic possibilities play out. We especially argue for more attention to varied forms of youth mobility and domestic migration around gold mining amid Zimbabwe's deep economic challenges.

Negotiating indigenous identities within mainstream community livelihoods: Stories of Aeta women in the Philippines

Livelihood participation among members of indigenous communities necessitates redefining of gender roles in indigenous communities. Utilising participatory rural appraisal (PRA) anchored on the principles of Social Identity Theory and Critical Race Theory (CRT), this article draws on a study about adult Aeta women, one of the largest indigenous groups in the mountainous regions of the Philippines. It looks into the perspectives of Aeta women on how livelihood practices address the integration of indigenous communities into mainstream societies. Through seasonal calendars, topical mapping and discussion circles, the study examined Aeta women’s negotiation of their identities as they participate in livelihood practices in mainstream communities. Their community participation indicates how intergroup conflict and social categorisation led to marginalisation and resistance to oppressions to strengthen their will to survive and achieve positive social identities.

Avifauna habitability of wetlands in an intensive cultural landscape: insights from the Ichhamati floodplains, India.

Wetlands of Ichhamati floodplains, India, are endowed repositories of native and migratory avifauna. However, unplanned utilization and unregulated resource extractions had led to the continual ecological deterioration of these wetland habitats. Considering avifauna habitability as an environmental manifestation of wetland health, the present study attempted to assess the habitability status of major 18 wetlands (> 10ha) of the floodplains under different livelihood dependency patterns. Accordingly, six widely used ecological indicators of avifauna distribution, species composition, and abundance had been applied to construct a composite index of avifauna habitability for two phases, viz. 2012-2013 and 2017-2018. Results indicated that wetlands with mixed livelihood practices (average habitability index score 2.471) were having statistically significant (p< 0.001) better habitability than those with agriculture and fishing dominated livelihood patterns (average index score 0.378 and - 2.746 respectively) in 2012-2013. The same scenario prevailed in 2017-2018 although overall wetland habitability was found to be declining throughout the floodplains during this period, especially in agriculture dominated wetlands (average index score 0.185). Faulty implementation of rural employment generation programs and distance cum lesser connectivity of wetlands with the perennial river channel had been identified as the prime detrimental factors of this degeneration and consequent loss of avifauna diversity.

The value of local climate and weather information: an economic valuation of the decentralised meteorological provision in Kenya

ABSTRACT The development of Sub-Saharan Africa will become increasingly constrained by the acute climate sensitivity of livelihood practices. Weather and climate services can improve climate risks to development by informing plans and decisions that ultimately reduce losses/maximize beneficial opportunities from climate variability and change. Yet, such services are typically highly aggregated, and notoriously difficult to communicate, especially to smallholder farmers and pastoralists where the need is greatest. Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) are decentralizing service provision, and in so doing, offering disaggregated, contextualized, and more easily understandable localized weather and seasonal information products relative to national level equivalents. This article uses household productive income (2014–2015) across Kitui County to model the economic value of KMD’s local seasonal forecast and advisory products. The findings suggest that, after controlling for alternative explanations, households receiving KMD’s local advisories and seasonal forecasts have marginally higher income levels compared to the counterfactual of using national level equivalents. When marginal appreciations in productive income are compared to the costs of establishing and maintaining KMD’s decentralized provision, the investment is economically viable and comparable with similar initiatives within and outside Kenya.

Nervous Conditions on the Limpopo: Gendered Insecurities, Livelihoods, and Zimbabwean Migrants in Northern South Africa

This paper examines some of the gendered insecurities informing some of the livelihood practices of Zimbabwean migrants in northern South Africa from 2004-2011, the period in which I carried out almost annual ethnographic research in this region. Situating these practices within wider policy shifts and changing migration patterns at the national and local scales, this paper shows the importance of attending to gendered dependencies and insecurities when analysing migrant livelihoods in southern Africa. These include those found within humanitarian organizations targeting Zimbabwean migrants in their programs and policies in the border area. These gendered insecurities, which are woven into the fabric of travel, work and accommodation for these migrant Zimbabwean women in northern South Africa, should be examined in struggles for social justice. By drawing on the lens of social critique to engender a wider sense of the social justice needs for Zimbabwean women migrants in South Africa, this essay aims to broaden the focus of activism on women migrants to also attend to gendered insecurities in their everyday economic and shelter-seeking activities.

Changing Dynamics Of Gendered Livelihoods Practices In Post Crises Of Swat Northwest Pakistan

This research attempts to focus on the changing dynamics of livelihoods practices among gender, and how conflict and flood crises (2005-2010) effected the various needs of livelihoods of the social classes in Swat valley of northwest Pakistan. Qualitative methods; formal/informal interviews, focus groups discussion, key informant interviews and participant observation, were used to explore the dynamics of changes in occupations, household dependency and those factors which influenced the changes accessing livelihood resources. The paper revealed that those households depending agriculture, small business and labour in market have been highly affected during conflict and flood crises in comparison to those households who were depending on remittances, public and private jobs and skilled works. The study found that the livelihood dependency of the households in all villages was based on agricultural and natural resources, which has changed to market and jobs based oriented resources. The factors like economic development, migration, conflict and displacement, and post conflict development have created diverse opportunities of livelihood resources for men and women, which brought social and cultural changes in the livelihood practices between genders at household level. The research emphasizes on the long-term livelihoods strategies and gendered equal opportunity policies by government and NGOs after the crises, which may improve the social statuses of the men and women.