"This outstanding piece of scholarship contains much for those interested in the complex role religion plays in environmental activism today."-
Journal of Anthropological Research "
River Dialogues uses ethnographic methods of journalistic realism to explore the ongoing debate over the Ganga river's natural and constructed future. A remarkable book,
River Dialogues examines how women in particular protest the building of hydroelectric dams on the sacred river and the private industries and government efforts to build them in Uttarakhand, an officially designated conservation zone."-Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies, James Fisher Prize Committee (Honorable Mention)
"A remarkable book, combining rigorous analysis, original methodology, and insightful conclusions. Drew has woven the various arguments about damming the Ganges into an engaging narrative in this model of careful research and clear writing."-Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Religion and Ecology
"Based on years of ethnographic research, this breakthrough text, with its explicit focus on gendered dynamics and disparities, is a nuanced, insightful, and essential read. Highly recommended for students and scholars in the environmental social sciences and humanities."-Barbara Rose Johnston, Center for Political Ecology
"An exceptionally well-documented and engaging account of the gendered and religious dimensions of social movements debating the Ganges's natural and constructed future forms. Drew skillfully argues for more nuanced approaches to the anthropology of environmental social movements, as well as for greater inclusion of lay people in natural resources decision making."-Mary M. Cameron, Professor of Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University