At the recently concluded DANAM (Dharma Academy of North America) conference held in conjunction with the American Academy of Religion Conference in Chicago, Dr. Pankaj Jain of the University of North Texas was chosen to be the recipient of the annual book prize for his book Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability, published by Ashgate in UK in 2011.
Reviewing the book, Professor Chris Chapple mentioned that Pankaj Jain has created a pioneering book in the important and newly emerging field of religion and ecology. In Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability, he presents research on three communities in India that practice unique forms of environmental activism. The book begins with an analysis of conceptual approaches to religious environmentalism in India, including devotional and ascetic models. The bulk of the book examines three vital communities in different regions of India: the Svadhyaya movement, the Bishnoi community, and the lifestyle of the Bhil tribal community. The book ends by suggesting that the flexibility of the Indic ethos of dharma lends itself to providing tools to cope with impending ecological challenges. By spending time with each of these communities, by recording detailed interviews, and by translating core documents for the Bishnoi and the Svadhyayis, Pankaj Jain has done a great deal to advance our knowledge of indigenous ecological knowledge systems in India. This book is ideal for an upper division or graduate course in religion and ecology and should be part of every college and university library collection.
The book was also chosen for the Uberoi Foundation Book Award in 2011 and has received appreciative reviews in the Journal of Asian Studies, Journal of Dharma Studies, Environmental Values, International Journal of Hindu Studies, Oxford Journal of Hindu Studies, Philosophy East & West, Religious Studies Review, Sophia, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature & Culture, Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, & Ecology, and in Asia Times.
Article courtesy Dr Sulekh C Jain, Houston, Texas, USA