'Bottom-Up' Approaches in Governance and Adaptation for Sustainable Development: Case Studies from India and Bangladesh

This book analyzes how governance and climate change adaptation - both integral to sustainable development - operate outside the bureaucratic apparatus of the state. It examines 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' approaches to sustainable development and looks at a possible 'middle-out' approach to resolving the challenges to sustainable development. The book also includes case studies from India and Bangladesh, which show that community-level factors such as social and cultural capital are key to the success of sustainable development efforts.

About the Author :
Pradip Swarnakar is Associate Professor of Sociology at the ABV-Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Gwalior, India. Dr Swarnakar's research areas include environmental sociology, climate change, social networks, and sustainability transition. He has completed projects funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research and the National Science Foundation. He was a visiting scholar at the Department of Sociology, the University of San Francisco, USA; the Department of Social Research, the University of Helsinki, Finland; and the Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology, the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH-UFZ, Germany. He was a recipient of the Fulbright-Nehru Academic & Professional Excellence Award, the Kone Foundation Senior Researcher grant, and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) grant. His work on climate change has been published in the British Journal of Sociology Stephen Zavestoski is Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at the University of San Francisco, USA. Dr Zavestoski's research areas include environmental sociology, social movements, sociology of health and illness, and urban sustainability. He is co-editor of Social Movements in Health (2005) and Contested Illnesses: Citizens, Science, and Health Social Movements (2012). Dr Zavestoski's current work explores strategies to address both sustainability and public health through urban and transportation planning. This work has culminated in Incomplete Streets: Processes, Practices and Possibilities (2014), co-edited with Julian Agyeman. Dr Zavestoski is co-editor of the book series Equity, Justice, and the Sustainable City.

Review :
This fine collection of work by insightful scholars adds greatly to our understanding of the challenges of sustainable development. The theme of shifting from top-down strategies to bottom-up runs through the chapters, providing a well-integrated book from a diversity of contributors --Richard York, "Director and Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Oregon, USA" This important volume is a welcome addition to Western-dominated literature pushing top-down approaches to sustainable development. It gives voice to scholars and practitioners in countries like India and Bangladesh who report on promising bottom-up approaches that are suited to a diverse range of local settings. --Riley E Dunlap, "Regents Professor of Sociology, Oklahoma State University, USA"