Forest Governance, Forest Rights and Community Responsibilities of the Indigenous Forest Dwellers: A Sociological Inquiry into Legislative Impacts

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the concept of indigeneity used to describe the historical, cultural, and ecological relationships of local, native, and autochthonous communities with their ancestral territories has increasingly attracted the attention of social scientists. Indigeneity broadly encompasses peoples whose identities are deeply rooted in specific places, whose cultural practices are shaped by historical continuity, and whose livelihoods remain closely intertwined with the natural environment. In recent years, the issue of indigenous peoples has also gained significant prominence within the global development discourse, particularly in relation to questions of rights, identity, and sustainable resource governance. Although the term “indigenous” is widely used as a generic global category, different countries employ diverse terminologies to refer to these communities. These include terms such as “tribes,” “First Peoples” or “First Nations,” “Aboriginals,” “ethnic groups,” “Adivasi,” and “Janajati.” In addition, various professional or ecological descriptors such as hunter-gatherers, nomads, peasants, and hill communities are often used in academic and policy discussions to denote similar groups whose socio-cultural existence is closely connected with specific ecological landscapes. Despite the variation in terminology, these expressions generally refer to communities that share historical experiences of marginalization and structural exclusion. Historically, indigenous and tribal communities in India, as well as across the world, have experienced persistent violations of human rights and systemic forms of exploitation. Processes of dispossession, socio-economic deprivation, and political exclusion have marginalized these communities within broader developmental trajectories. Whether in the context of environmental conservation policies, urban expansion, or rural land-based conflicts, such patterns of marginalization often reflect a continuation of colonial modes of governance and knowledge production that positioned indigenous peoples as subordinate subjects. Consequently, the ongoing exploitation and exclusion of these communities can be interpreted as a contemporary manifestation of the colonial subjectification of the subaltern, perpetuating historical inequalities within modern development frameworks. The present study addresses such kind of ongoing exploitation and exclusion of the indigenous forest-dwelling communities as well as examines the evolving relationship between forest rights and social duties within the broader framework of forest governance in India. It also aims to undertake a critical analysis of major forest legislations as well as policy frameworks namely The First Forest Policy,1855; The National Forest Policy, 1894; The Indian Forest Act, 1865; The Reserved Forest Act, 1878; The Indian Forest Act, 1927; Government of India Act, 1935; respectively in the pre-independent post-colonial era. Furthermore, the article seeks to understand how the rights of indigenous forest-dwelling communities have been recognized, negotiated, and institutionalized over time. At the same time, the study explores the notion of social responsibility embedded in community-based forest management and participatory governance mechanisms. Through this analysis, the article aims to highlight the importance of balancing rights-based approaches with collective responsibilities in order to ensure inclusive, democratic, and ecologically sustainable forest governance.