By: Zahid Iqbal Sheikh
The book under review ‘Floating Economies: The Cultural Ecology of the Dal Lake in Kashmir, India’ is a very fascinating work by Michael J. Casimir who is a Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Cologne (Germany). This book was first published in 2021 by Berghahn Books, New York and Oxford.
The author has endeavoured to emphasize the significant role Dal Lake plays in the daily lives of those residing in and around the lake. Dal Lake which is located in the heart of city support three distinct populations: market gardeners, houseboat owners, and fisherman. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the multifaceted connection between the economics, social structure, and environment of the region, including its historical context and the unstable socio-political circumstances.
The author employs a comprehensive and interdisciplinary methodology to examine the socio-economic tactics used by the populations living in this area and assess the ecological state of the Dal, as well as the factors that lead to its gradual deterioration. His study is primarily concerned with the use of the lake’s resources. From 2009 until shortly before the book was published, i.e. over a period of around 10 years, he repeatedly visited the valley and stayed for several months, so that he can give a comprehensive account from his own perspective.
Over the course of 300 years, as recorded in reliable sources, the populace underwent a thorough Islamisation process and were split into two distinct and mutually antagonistic denominations: Sunni and Shiite. These faiths are also prevalent in other regions. Nevertheless, the population has not only evolved along this theological boundary – the Hindus, as a small minority, have little significance – but social fragmentation also arises along family and ethnic divisions, leading to distinct groupings connected with various economic pursuits.
This has led to a wide range of activities locally linked to the lake and its inflows and outflows: farming on the shoreline, the creation of floating gardens, harvesting water lilies and other plants that thrive in the lake, fishing, the marketing of agricultural surplus production, the manufacture of processed items (e.g. mats and baskets) and finally the increasing tourist use of traditional shikaras (houseboats).
Casimir’s presentation makes it clear that the increase in population and the strong dependence on tourism, which fluctuates due to the politically uncertainty, and the degradation and shrinkage of the lake, which is already very shallow (maximum depth 6 m), are not exactly being encouraged, but are increasingly putting a strain on Kashmir’s overall economic situation.
The valley of Kashmir, long praised as a paradise on earth, is increasingly witnessing an environmental crisis. Because of this alarming situation, Casimir has tried to analyse the causes and local efforts to counteract them. Unfortunately he focuses excessively on local decision-making processes rather than clearly articulating the political missteps affecting the overall ecology from an outsider’s perspective. It is doubtful that the well-intentioned but often ineffective or incapable local measures will be able to halt the decline.
The book is not written for the generally interested reader or for the cultural-ecologically comparative reader; Casimir places too much emphasis on the linguistically and factually highly differentiated conditions and the relevant studies on them. He does not provide a concise synthesis of the current situation and hardly provides any references to comparable regions, such as the prehistoric lakeshore settlements in the Alpine region, the Chinampa economy in the high valley of Mexico, the harvest peoples on the Great Lakes of North America or the Indian inhabitants of the Titicaca Basin in Bolivia and Peru, where similar human-environment relationships existed or still exist.
The reviewer is a Doctoral Fellow at Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad. Sheikhzahid0001@gmail.com
