Arun Agrawal (born September 20, 1962) is a
political scientist
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and the Samuel Trask Dana Professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
.
Agrawal is the coordinator for the
International Forestry Resources and Institutions
The International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Network is a collective of research partners at 12 universities or non-governmental organizations in 11 countries around the world that focus on how institutions and governance arrangem ...
network and does research in Africa and South Asia.
Agrawal was the editor-in-chief of the scholarly journal ''
World Development
''World Development'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering development studies. It was established in 1973 and is published by Elsevier.
According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2020 impact factor
The im ...
'' from 2013-2021.
Agrawal was a
Guggenheim Fellow
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...
in 2011
and was elected to the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...
in 2018.
Education
Arun Agrawal was born in Forbesganj,
Bihar, India
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...
, where he grew up in a middle-class family. Eventually he moved to
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
to live with an aunt, so that he could attend a better school.
Agrawal received his BA in History from the
University of Delhi
Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE ...
in 1983. He received an MBA in Development Administration and Public Policy from the
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is the world's number 1 business school, located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The school has been accorded the status of an Institute of National Importance by Ministry of Human Resour ...
in 1985.
Moving to the United States, he received his Ph.D. in political science from
Duke University in 1992.
His Ph.D. work involved following Indian shepherds in the Himalayas to better understand how those communities managed commonly held resources.
Career
Agrawal has taught at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
(1993-1996),
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
(1997-2002) and
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
(2002-2003). In 2003, he began teaching at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
in
Ann Arbor
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
, where he works on issues of environmental politics, governance, and sustainable development.
In 2022, Agrawal was chosen to be a co-chair of the Transformative Change Assessment for the
Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The Transformative Change Assessment will address "the underlying causes of
biodiversity loss
Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...
, the determinants of transformative change, and options for achieving the 2050 vision for biodiversity".
Publications
Agrawal's work has been published in journals such as ''
Science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
'', ''
Conservation Biology
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an ...
'', ''
World Development
''World Development'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering development studies. It was established in 1973 and is published by Elsevier.
According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2020 impact factor
The im ...
'', and ''
PNAS
''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America'' (often abbreviated ''PNAS'' or ''PNAS USA'') is a peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It is the official journal of the National Academy of Scien ...
''.
In a publication in ''
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...
'', Agrawal explores the positive side of disaster in his case study of a 1998 hurricane in
Honduras. According to Agrawal, natural disasters like this set the stage for alternative social trajectories.
Books
Agrawal's best known book is ''Environmentality: Technologies of Government and the Making of Subjects'', published in 2005.
Previously published books included ''Greener Pastures: Politics, Markets, and Community Among a Migrant Pastoral People,'' (1999) and ''Decentralization in Nepal: A Comparative Analysis'' (1998).
Reviews
*"Arun Agrawal (in ''Environmentality'') provides a most lucid account of the people-government- forest interplay in the 20th century Kumaon Himalayas in this book.... Arun Agrawal addresses these fascinating questions on the basis, not only of archival research, but significantly, on the strength of extensive long-term fieldwork."—The Hindu
*"This book (''Environmentality'') aims to promote Arun Agrawal's own neologism - "environmentality" ... This book, too, has hidden its worthwhile arguments in thickets of verbal profusion, which make it hard to see the teak for the forest."--The Times Higher Education
Books edited
*2001: ''Agrarian Environments: Resources, Representations and Rule in India''. Duke University Press, Durham,
*2001: ''Social Nature: Resources, Representations and Rule in India''. Oxford University Press, New Delhi,
*2001: ''Communities and the Environment: Ethnicity, Gender, and the State in Community-Based Conservation''. Rutgers University Press, Piscataway,
*2003: ''Regional Modernities: The Cultural Politics of Development in India''. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto,
See also
*
Central African Forest Initiative
Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) was launched during the 2015 United Nations General Assembly in New York as a collaborative partnership between a coalition of willing donors (The European Union, Germany, Norway, France and the United King ...
*
International Forestry Resources and Institutions
The International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) Network is a collective of research partners at 12 universities or non-governmental organizations in 11 countries around the world that focus on how institutions and governance arrangem ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agrawal, Arun
1962 births
American political scientists
Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Environmental social scientists
Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alumni
Indian political scientists
Living people
Delhi University alumni
University of Michigan faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences