Bikash Naskar
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Mahitosh Nandy Mahavidyalaya, Hooghly, West Bengal, India
E-mail: naskarbikash461@gmail.com
Issue: Volume 2 No. 1 (March 2026) Anubodhan
Received: 8 March 2026 / Accepted: 17 March 2026 / Published: 31 March 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.007
Abstract
Contemporary environmental governance frameworks, mostly based on regulatory compliance and market-based tools, have found it difficult to address the ethical roots of ecological degradation. Although technological and legal measures remain important, their long-term success is limited without shared moral commitments guiding collective ecological restraint. As a response, scholars have increasingly engaged with indigenous and non-Western knowledge systems as alternative ethical resources for sustainability. This paper argues that environmental ethics within the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) can be reinterpreted as a form of moral commons governance-a type of ecological regulation rooted in ethical duty, collective responsibility, and cosmological order rather than solely in formal institutional enforcement. Through interpretive analysis of classical Indian philosophical texts and a comparative review of indigenous ecological practices—such as sacred groves, traditional water management, and the Bishnoi community—the study shows how ethical norms have historically functioned as governance tools shaping human–nature relationships. Instead of idealising IKS, the paper critically explores its limitations, including social hierarchy, institutional fragility, and translation challenges within diverse democratic settings. The findings indicate that while IKS-based ethics cannot be directly copied, their core principles—restraint, duty, and intergenerational responsibility—can effectively enhance modern environmental governance when combined with democratic institutions and scientific understanding.
Keywords: Indian Knowledge System, Environmental Ethics, Moral Commons Governance, Political Ecology, Sustainability Governance, Indigenous Knowledge
How to cite: Naskar, B. (2026). Environmental Ethics as Moral Commons Governance: Reinterpreting the Indian Knowledge System for Contemporary Ecological Politics. Anubodhan, 2(1), 62–68. https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n1.2026.007