Book review: Unsustainable inequalities: social justice and the environment by Lucas Chancel

In Unsustainable Inequalities: Social Justice and the Environment, Lucas Chancel demonstrates the role that economic inequality plays in maintaining social injustice and environmental unsustainability, exploring ways to better balance the reduction of socio-economic inequality and the strengthening of environmental protections. This is an accessible, relevant and thought-provoking analysis that uses well-presented facts and figure to unpack the intricate relationship between social injustice and environmental harm, finds Gayathri D. Naik. If you are interested in this book, you can listen to or watch author Lucas Chancel in conversation with LSE’s Dr Alina Averchenkova, recorded at an October 2020 online event hosted by LSE’s International Inequalities Institute. Unsustainable Inequalities: Social Justice and the Environment. Lucas Chancel. Harvard University Press. 2020

Book review: Legal protection for traditional knowledge: towards a new law for indigenous intellectual property by Anindya Bhukta

In Legal Protection for Traditional Knowledge: Towards A New Law for Indigenous Intellectual Property, Anindya Bhukta underscores the value of traditional knowledge and argues that legal systems need to ensure better protection of this knowledge, with a particular focus on India. This book is an ideal primer for readers looking to find out more about the laws concerning traditional knowledge, writes Gayathri D Naik, and Bhukta’s proposals for a new legal approach embody his in-depth research and knowledge of the subject

Book review: India in a warming world: integrating climate change and development edited by Navroz K. Dubash

In India in a Warming World: Integrating Climate Change and Development, Navroz K. Dubash brings together contributors to reflect on climate change and development debates in India, discussing India’s climate vulnerability, the impact of climate policies on long-term development and India’s global engagement through foreign policy. Readers will close the book appreciating the need for societal cooperation to ensure a harmonious approach to development and environmental conservation that achieves equity among different needs, writes Gayathri D. Naik. professionals

Book review: The (un)governable city: productive failure in the making of colonial Delhi, 1858-1911 by Raghav Kishore

In The (Un)Governable City: Productive Failure in the Making of Colonial Delhi, 1858-1911, Raghav Kishore explores the transformation of urban governance in Delhi in the nineteenth century, demonstrating that many of the clashes and conflicts in urban planning were ‘productive failures’ that allowed the state to expand its control and the local population to assert their rights and space in urban planning. This is a must-read book for all history enthuasists, writes Gayathri D. Naik, and is also recommended to town planners looking to understand the legacies of this era of planning today. The (Un)Governable City: Productive Failure in the Making of Colonial Delhi, 1858-1911. Raghav Kishore. Orient BlackSwan. 2020

After the floods: Rebuilding Kerala

In August, Kerala was devastated by floods and landslides. At least 350 people died and 220,000 were left homeless. As the Indian Government vows to rebuild the state, Gayathri D Naik argues that to prevent another climate catastrophe, both the region and the country must reconceptualise not just how they see development but nature itself

Book review: Madan Mohan Malaviya and the Indian Freedom Movement

Freedom fighter and educationist, Madan Mohan Malaviya is one of the least known figures from the Indian freedom movement. In a new book on his life, Gayathri D Naik finds a man who was a staunch supporter of press freedom and the power of education