Interrogating Development: Transformation and Disruption in Aboriginal Livelihood of Birhor Tribe
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The Birhor, one of India's 75 officially recognised Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), represent one of the most ecologically integrated and linguistically endangered communities in Central-East India. Historically semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers and skilled rope-makers, the Birhor have inhabited the forested landscapes of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and West Bengal for centuries, sustaining a subsistence economy rooted in intimate ecological knowledge. This article interrogates the ambivalent trajectory of "development" as experienced by the Birhor, examining how state-directed sedentarisation programmes, large-scale deforestation, and welfare-oriented interventions — far from enhancing livelihood security — have systematically disrupted the socio-ecological foundations of Birhor life. Drawing on a synthesis of ethnographic literature, government policy documents, and recent field-based research, the study analyses three interlocking axes of disruption: (a) the erosion of forest-based livelihood systems through deforestation and land alienation; (b) the cultural and occupational dislocation produced by forced or incentivised sedentarisation; and (c) the inadequacy of mainstreaming welfare schemes in addressing the structural vulnerabilities of this community. The article argues that the dominant development paradigm — premised on sedentarisation, agricultural integration, and market assimilation — constitutes a form of "epistemic violence" against Birhor ecological knowledge and ontological identity. It calls for a rights-based, culturally consonant developmental framework, anchored in the provisions of the Forest Rights Act (2006), PESA (1996), and the constitutional safeguards under the Fifth Schedule...
Source: Library Progress (International)
Author: Das , Somiran
Institution: University of Calcutta
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7216842139