VOICES OF THE EARTH: Environmental Communication in India Across Media, Memory, And Margins

Three converging realities drove this volume. First, the “digital turn” has rewired how environmental knowledge flows. Cheap data, smartphones, and short-video platforms have pulled rural and peri-urban publics into constant, many-to-many conversations about weather, crops, water, and health. This has democratized alerts and know-how, while also inviting rumor, denial, and manipulation. Second, the stakes of communication have never been higher: heat stress, erratic monsoons, cyclone intensity, coastal erosion, landslides, air and water quality—each demands timely information and credible interpretation that travels the “last mile” in the right language, tone, and format. Third, the ethical demand for inclusion is unmistakable. Dalit, Adivasi, and feminist movements remind us that environmental burdens and benefits are not evenly distributed; neither are the megaphones. An equitable environmental future will require equitable environmental media.This book gathers scholars, journalists, educators, artists, community practitioners, and technologists who, taken together, map the contours of India’s contemporary eco-communication field. The chapters span digital media, memory and meaning, and the social margins where vulnerability and leadership often coexist. We do not claim comprehensive coverage; India is too large and dynamic for that. Rather, we offer a set of grounded lenses—case-rich, comparative, and hopeful without being naïve.