What is the real difference between speaking with nature and speaking for it? Is eco-centric thought a universally shared ideology, or does it develop in reaction to historical, philosophical, and socio-cultural contexts? In what way do the fundamental principles of Indian ecology vary from prevailing Western structures? These essential inquiries delineate the parameters of Ramachandra Guha’s Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism (2024), which effectively contests the notion that environmentalism is a unidirectional phenomenon dictated by Western influence. This view posits that the rest of the world, particularly the Global South, lacks eco-conscious awareness because it is ‘too poor to be green’. Guha reasserts India’s environmental practices as historically intensive and politically impactful by breaking down predominant accounts that place Western conservatism at the centre of ecological understanding. Guha provides an essential counterbalance to the Eurocentric conception of ecological tradition, and persuasively demonstrates that Indian eco-conscience is not a contemporary phenomenon but a firmly embedded philosophy that substantially anticipates the West’s eco-centric revival. He maps the Indian ecological roots through revolutionary figures– Radhakamal Mukerjee, Rabindranath Tagore, Patrick Geddes, Gabrielle and Albert Howard, J.C. Kumarappa, Verrier Elwin, M. Krishnan, Mira Behn and K.M. Munshi – who influenced India’s interaction with ecology long before modern global environmental philosophy emerged. Unlike the contributions of Henry David Thoreau, John Muir and Rachel Carson, which emphasize the conservation of untouched territories, Indian ecological philosophy is closely connected to the lived experiences of marginalized groups who rely on natural ecology for their existence.

As ecological crises escalate—encompassing climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and community displacement—the necessity to rethink humanity’s connection with nature becomes critical. Environmental humanities, ecosophy, ecocriticism, and geocriticism have developed into essential interdisciplinary domains that examine ecological challenges across the perspectives of literature, philosophy, geography, and culture. Nevertheless, prevailing narratives within these discussions frequently continue to be based in Western epistemologies, sidelining Indigenous viewpoints that have historically encompassed the tenets of interconnectedness, environmental management, and sustainability. Reflections from Indigenous planetary philosophies and global perspectives provide profoundly holistic approaches to relationships with animals, water, land, and the cosmos—approaches essential for creating egalitarian and sustainable environmental prospects. The aim of this edited volume is to focus on oral traditions, environmental ethics, and Indigenous knowledge systems in academic discourses regarding the ecological crisis. The objective is to establish a space for community leaders, scholars, writers, and activists to unite in the decolonization of eco-centric consciousness and to examine how Indigenous strategies might influence global ecological praxis. The volume will provide an opportunity for the readers to understand the varying land use patterns and how that has adversely affected the wetlands, ultimately resulting in biodiversity loss.  

Topics (Indicative, Not Exhaustive):
 Ecosophy and Political Thought- Eco-anarchism, bioregionalism, and green politics
 Environmental Justice and Decolonial Resistance
 Indigenous Ecopoetics and Storytelling: Sacred Geographies and Place-Based
Knowledge
 Ecofeminism and queer ecologies

 Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Modern Sustainability: Literary and
Artistic Representations of Indigenous Ecologies
 Digital ecologies, deep ecology, and posthumanism
 Climate Change, Displacement, and Indigenous Resilience
 Ecological Ethics in Indigenous Cosmologies
 Geocriticism and Indigenous Spatial Narratives: Socio-spatial dialectic, spatial justice,
and spatio-temporality
 Intersections of Gender, Ecology, and Indigenous Rights

Submission Guidelines:

Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words (excluding bibliography) along with a short bio (100 words) as a MS-Word file, Times New Roman 12, spacing 2.0 to somasree1.santra@adamasuniversity.ac.in

Keywords: 5–7 

• Important Dates:

  Abstract submission deadline : 31 October, 2026

  Intimation of acceptance or rejection of Abstracts : 30 November 2026

  Full chapter submission : 28 February, 2027

  Tentative Publication of the volume : October, 2027

Articles will be peer reviewed for both content and style. Full chapter submissions should be no more than 8,000 words, not including abstract, footnotes, and bibliography. Recent MLA edition guidelines to be followed while preparing the chapter. 

Selected chapters will be published in an edited volume by Peter Lang International Academic Publishers.