Syllabus: Paper I > 2.5 Kinship > Kinship terminology and theory
Customary Laws and Environmental Conservation — 2023 Paper I
Question · 2023 · Paper I · 10 Marks
Customary laws and Environmental conservation
Model Answer
VAID ICSIntroduction Customary laws are community-sanctioned norms governing resource use, often rooted in Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK). In tribal societies, these laws are not merely legal, but integrate ecology, kinship, and religion, perfectly illustrated by L.P. Vidyarthi’s "Nature-Man-Spirit Complex" (e.g., among the Maler tribe).
Body
- Mechanisms of Customary Conservation
- Sacred Sanctions (Taboos): Religious taboos act as ecological regulators. For instance, the Khasi sacred groves (Mawphlang) in Meghalaya are protected through strict ritual sanctions against extraction.
- Ritual Regulation of Ecology: Globally, as Roy Rappaport demonstrated in Pigs for the Ancestors (Tsembaga Maring of Papua New Guinea), ritual cycles prevent environmental degradation and overpopulation.
- Sustainable Agro-Ecology: Customary management of landscapes, such as the Apatani of Arunachal Pradesh, who combine wet-rice cultivation and fish farming with zero-waste organic nutrient recycling.
- Regulated Resource Extraction: Angami customary rules enforce strict seasonality and limits on hunting/fishing to ensure species replenishment.
- Contemporary Relevance & Legal Recognition
- Customary institutions prevent "Tragedy of the Commons" by enforcing collective tenure over forests and pastures (e.g., Toda sacred dairies).
- Modern environmental governance legally recognizes these systems through the Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 and PESA, 1996, empowering Gram Sabhas to manage community forest resources.
Conclusion While customary law acts as vital indigenous environmental governance (Cultural Ecology), it must not be romanticized. Anthropologists note that demographic pressures, market economy penetration, and the weakening of traditional authority require integrating customary laws with modern conservation policies for sustainable climate mitigation.
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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2023 — Paper I
28 questionsSyllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Globalization and culture
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.3 Mendelian population and Hardy-Weinberg law
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.6 Phylogenetic status, characteristics and distribution > Australopithecines
Syllabus: Paper I > 5. Religion > Anthropological approaches to the study of religion
1(b) Cultural impact of Iron Age
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution > Iron Age
1(d) Customary laws and Environmental conservation
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 4. Political Organization and Social Control > Customary law
Syllabus: Paper I > 8.1 Research Methods > Fieldwork tradition in Anthropology
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Nutritional anthropology
1(e) Gene expression
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.7 The biological basis of life > Gene and protein synthesis
Syllabus: Paper I > 3. Economic Organization > Impact of globalization
5(c) Glottochronology
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 7. Culture, language and communication > Language change
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.4 Human Evolution and emergence of Man
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution > Mesolithic
Syllabus: Paper I > 2.3 Marriage > Rules of marriage
5(d) Menopausal symptoms
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 11.1 Relevance of menarche, menopause and other bio-events to fertility
3(c) What is mixed-longitudinal method of studying human growth ? Discuss its merits and demerits.
15 Marks
Syllabus: Paper I > 10. Human growth and development > Methodologies for growth studies
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution > Palaeolithic
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > Forensic Anthropology > Personal identification
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Culture and Personality > National character studies
5(a) Polygenic Inheritance
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.2 Mendelian genetics in man > Polygenic inheritance
Syllabus: Paper I > 12. Applications of Anthropology > DNA technology in diseases and medicine
5(b) Prehistoric significance of Rakhigarhi
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.8(b) Cultural Evolution > Harappan sites
Syllabus: Paper I > 8.4 Research Methods > Analysis, interpretation and presentation of data
1(c) Race and Ethnicity
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.5 Race and racism > Race and ethnicity
1(a) Scope and relevance of Social and Cultural Anthropology
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 1.3 Main branches of Anthropology, their scope and relevance
Syllabus: Paper I > 9.4(a) Numerical and structural aberrations (disorders)
5(e) William Ogburn and Cultural lag
10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper I > 6. Anthropological Theories > Cultural lag (Ogburn)