Agrarianising the forest fire crisis: rethinking forest fires from grassroots in the Uttarakhand Himalaya

This study re-examines the role of fire in the Uttarakhand Himalaya through political ecology and critical agrarian studies. It emphasises the importance of understanding fire regimes in relation to ongoing agrarian change. Drawing on fieldwork conducted with rural communities, the study challenges prevailing blame narratives and highlights that controlled winter burning remains central to rural production and social reproduction, even as livelihoods transition away from agriculture and migration increases. By situating fire within shifting social relations in the rural world and evolving forest governance, the study reconceptualises fires as ecological-agrarian phenomena intertwined with agrarian struggles to maintain life on the land.