New Books Network Anand P. Vaidya, "Future of the Forest: Struggles over Land and Law in India" (Cornell UP, 2025)
Nov 13, 2025
Anand P. Vaidya, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Reed College, dives into the complexities of India's Forest Rights Act. He shares harrowing tales of Ramnagar's destruction and the ethical dilemmas he faced during his research. Vaidya explores how forests are not just natural spaces but battlegrounds for property rights and state power. He discusses the role of activists leveraging legal strategies to empower forest dwellers and the intricate dynamics between courts and the executive. His insights reveal the law's potential for both exclusion and resistance.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Law As A Living Circulating Text
- Vaidya treats law like a circulating text with social life: entextualization, the text, and contextualization.
- This framing reveals how competing politics become embedded and reinterpreted in the Forest Rights Act.
Fieldwork Crisis After Village Destruction
- Anand witnessed a dominant-caste attack that destroyed the Ramnagar settlement built under FRA claims.
- The villagers demanded Anand publicly side with them to continue fieldwork after the violence.
Fixity Is Part Of Law's Power
- Law appears fixed rhetorically but practitioners constantly unfix and refix meanings in use.
- The perceived fixity of law gives it power, even while actors strategically reinterpret it.
