‘We are the true guardians of the environment’: human‐environment relations and debates about the future of the C hagos A rchipelago

Abstract

This article applies I ngold's conceptualization of environmental outlooks ranging from the ‘globe’ to the ‘sphere’ to explore human‐environment relations and debates about the future of the C hagos A rchipelago in the I ndian O cean. C hagossians and conservationists broadly represent the two extremes of the engaged lifeworld of the sphere and the detached worldview of the globe, respectively, but I argue that this does not necessarily determine their environmental outlooks for the future. It is not simply the case either that C hagossians uniformly advocate resettlement of C hagos or that conservationists uniformly oppose resettlement. Within each group two distinct environmental outlooks are identified: engagement versus withdrawal amongst C hagossians, and exclusion versus participation amongst conservationists. The article demonstrates, then, that environmental outlooks are influenced not only by understandings of human‐environment relations but also by pragmatic and ideological considerations.

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