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Gone with the Trees: Deciphering the Thar Desert’s Recurring Droughts

In the 10-year period between 1999 and 2009, the district of Barmer, located in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India, experienced 7 years of rainfall deficits, as well as instances of excessive rainfall. This increased variability in rainfall patterns in an area largely covered by the Thar Desert ‘has exacerbated the region’s already precarious environmental and land conditions. This article is based on ethnographic research conducted in this part of India, which is impacted by the numerous social, economic, and environmental outcomes of successive extreme weather events. It discusses the transformation of the ecosystem of the Thar Desert by drawing the outlines of the recent environmental history and by exposing local farmers’ articulation of these changes. The meanings and subjectivities with which rural Rajasthan is endowed and which constitute farmers’ identity are also addressed through the examination of the cultural construction of place. The analysis reveals that people’s understanding of environmental change is intertwined with their broader worldview and their relationship with the elements that compose their immediate landscape. The author argues that a comprehensive understanding of the impact of climate change can only be reached by according more attention to the cultural dimensions of places.