Class reflection( environmental sociology)

 🌳 1. Rural-Urban Migration & Waste Management  • Issue: As more people move to towns like Thimphu and Phuentsholing for jobs and education, urban areas face increased waste and pollution.  • Social impact: Overcrowded housing, job competition, and rising living costs.  • Environmental impact: Overflowing landfills, plastic pollution, and pressure on urban resources like water and electricity. 🏞️ 2. Human-Wildlife Conflict  • Issue: Farmers often lose crops and livestock to wild animals like elephants, boars, or leopards.  • Social impact: Economic loss and emotional stress for rural families.  • Environmental link: As forests shrink or change due to development, animals enter villages in search of food. 🛤️ 3. Development Projects vs Environmental Protection  • Issue: Projects like hydropower dams, roads, and tourism infrastructure can harm ecosystems.  • Social impact: Some communities are displaced, lose access to natural resources...

 In class, I learned that environmental criminology is not just about pollution or illegal logging—it’s also about power, justice, and who gets harmed the most. From an Indigenous perspective, it reveals how colonial systems continue to harm Indigenous lands, cultures, and people. ⚖️ Disproportionate Impact One key point teachers made is that Indigenous communities suffer the most from environmental harm, even though they contribute the least to it. For example, mining or dam projects often happen on Indigenous lands without consent, damaging ecosystems and displacing people. This shows the unequal burden placed on Indigenous populations, which is both unfair and unjust. 📜 Traditional Laws and Justice We also discussed how Indigenous communities have their own traditional environmental laws, passed down through generations. These laws teach respect for nature and guide how land and resources should be used. However, modern legal systems often ignore or dismiss these Indigenous law...

 From what I’ve learned in class, Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are deeply rooted in holistic wisdom—they view nature, humans, animals, and spirits as all connected. This means harming one part of nature affects the whole system. Unlike modern systems that often separate people from nature, Indigenous knowledge is based on balance, respect, and sustainability. Indigenous people have deep spiritual and cultural ties to the land. For them, the land is not something to own or exploit, but a living relative. So when forests are cut or rivers polluted, it’s not just environmental harm—it’s a moral and cultural loss. Yet, these communities are often the most at risk. They face land theft, pollution, and exclusion from decisions about their own environment. Environmental criminology helps us see this as not just ecological damage, but a justice issue—asking who is harming, who suffers, and why. We also learned that Indigenous peoples are guardians of biodiversity. Their traditional w...

 Interdependent origination is a Buddhist idea that means everything is connected and depends on causes and conditions to exist. Nothing stands alone. The Reimagining spaces, species and socities in the Himalayas uses this idea to show how people, animals, plants, culture, and the environment in the Himalayas are deeply connected. In Himalayan societies:  • Cultural beliefs, like seeing certain forests or animals as sacred, help protect the environment.  • Farming and herding practices depend on nature (like seasons or weather), but also affect how the land is used and cared for.  • Local knowledge and religious practices help communities manage forests, water, and animals sustainably. When one thing changes—like a glacier melting, a road being built, or wildlife moving—it affects everything else. For example:  • A new road might bring tourists, which changes local traditions and impacts wildlife.  • A sacred forest protects both the environment and communi...