March 4, 2022
Decolonizing Land Management in Institutions of Higher Education
Dr. Praneeta Mudaliar
Assistant Professor, Ithaca College
Abstract
Many institutions of higher education (IHE) were founded on and continue to benefit from the violent dispossession of Indigenous Land. IHE and Land managed by IHE frame scientific knowledge as universal, marginalizing Indigenous, non-Eurocentric perspectives and knowledge. Including local and Indigenous knowledge systems in IHE Land management has implications for fostering resilient socio-ecological systems as well as for decolonizing IHE Land management. However, scholarship on what kinds of knowledge systems are included in Land managed by IHE is lacking. Subsequently, interventions to decolonize IHE Land management are also absent. Through qualitative methods, this study examines knowledges included in IHE Land management plans. Findings show scientific knowledge dominates the plans, followed by local knowledge and professional knowledge, with almost no Indigenous knowledge. The absence of Indigenous knowledge in IHE Land management supports calls for changes to IHE knowledge production and rematriating Indigenous Land to Indigenous communities. The talk will conclude with implications for decolonizing IHE Land management in higher education and beyond.
Biosketch
Praneeta is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Science at Ithaca College with interest in the intersection of environmental conservation and social justice. Prior to coming to Ithaca College, Praneeta was a post-doctoral fellow in environmental justice and sustainability at the University of Denver. Praneeta received her Ph.D. in Environment and Natural Resources from the Ohio State University.
Praneeta’s scholarship involves examining micro and macro-level power dynamics, socio-cultural inequalities, and actor interactions in the governance of shared resources through case study methods. Praneeta has conducted cross-national research on how racial and caste inequalities in the U.S. and India affect watershed management. Praneeta has also conducted research in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda on power dynamics among decision centers and its impact on the governance of Lake Victoria’s polycentric fisheries.
Other projects have included examining pro-environmental behaviors among young adults in the United States and decolonizing land managed by institutes of higher education in the United States. Praneeta’s work has appeared in journals such as Environmental Science and Policy, Society and Natural Resources, Environmental Policy and Governance, International Journal of the Commons, and Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences