Boundary Objects for Inclusive Participatory Governance: Lessons from Joint Forest Management in West Bengal, India

Participatory environmental governance in India is weakened by elite capture, bureaucratic inertia, and symbolic inclusion. Joint Forest Management (JFM) in West Bengal highlights the potential and limitations of community-based forestry. This paper explores how boundary objects—tools that facilitate communication across diverse stakeholders without requiring absolute consensus—can strengthen participatory processes. Although widely applied in international sustainability transitions, boundary object theory has rarely been systematically used in Indian environmental policy. This desk-based review of empirical scholarship on West Bengal’s JFM program evaluates how tools like participatory maps, biodiversity registers, and storytelling mediate institutional tensions. It also assesses how gender frameworks and Gram Sabhas expand inclusion and foster knowledge exchange. These tools are organized into visionary, procedural, documentary, and organizational types. By applying a boundary object lens, the paper develops a typology to advance theoretical and practical insights into how participation in Indian environmental governance can become more inclusive and accountable.