This blog is assigned by Prof. Dilip Barad Sir, Professor and Head of the Department of English, Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. The blog is based on his research article, “Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future,” which explores the intersections of postcolonial studies, environmentalism, indigenous rights, and global capitalism.
Introduction
The environmental crisis of the present cannot be understood only as a scientific or ecological problem; it is also deeply connected with histories of colonialism, economic exploitation, and unequal relations of power. In the Anthropocene, human activities have transformed the planet on an unprecedented scale, but the consequences of environmental degradation are not experienced equally by all communities. Formerly colonized and indigenous populations are often more vulnerable because their lands, forests, and natural resources have historically been subjected to exploitation and continue to be targeted by contemporary development and capitalist interests. Dilip Barad’s article, “Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future,” explores this intersection between postcolonialism, environmentalism, indigenous rights, and global capitalism. The article argues for expanding postcolonial studies to address environmental destruction, resource exploitation, and the continuing forms of dispossession in formally decolonized societies. This perspective becomes particularly relevant to Chakravyuh, a film that engages with conflict, tribal communities, state power, and struggles over resources in Central India. Through the concept of internal colonialism, the film can be read as a representation of how colonial patterns of exploitation may continue within a formally independent nation.This is around 170 words. It gives us a strong academic opening and establishes the argument for the whole blog.
Article’s Theoretical Framework
Barad’s article brings postcolonial studies into conversation with environmental studies by arguing that ecological crises cannot be separated from histories of colonialism and contemporary global capitalism. One important idea discussed in the article is internal colonialism, through which patterns of domination continue within formally decolonized nations. Indigenous communities may still experience dispossession when their ancestral lands are taken for resource extraction and economic development. The article also draws attention to Vandana Shiva’s argument that colonialism and capitalist expansion have contributed to the destruction of ecological diversity and the weakening of sustainable local cultures. Another important concept is accumulation by dispossession, associated with David Harvey, which explains how capital can accumulate through the displacement of communities and the appropriation of their resources and rights. Finally, Dipesh Chakrabarty’s concept of the Anthropocene expands the discussion by showing that humans have become powerful agents of planetary environmental change. These concepts provide a useful framework for reading Chakravyuh not simply as a political conflict narrative, but as a representation of the relationship between land, indigenous communities, state power, resource exploitation, and environmental injustice.
Postcolonialism, Environment, and the Anthropocene
Postcolonial studies traditionally examines the cultural, political, and economic consequences of colonialism, but the environmental crisis requires this field to consider how colonial histories continue to shape relationships between people, land, and natural resources. Barad observes that the environmental crisis has encouraged postcolonial scholars to reconsider the limits of traditional postcolonial criticism. Dipesh Chakrabarty’s discussion of climate change is particularly significant because he argues that the planetary crisis cannot be understood only through existing theories of globalization, capitalism, or oppression. At the same time, the environmental question cannot be separated from histories of colonial exploitation. Vandana Shiva’s work, as discussed by Barad, establishes a connection between colonialism, capitalist expansion, and the destruction of ecological diversity. This becomes especially important in formerly colonized countries, where environmental degradation often affects communities whose livelihoods depend directly on forests, land, and other natural resources. Barad therefore argues for a broader postcolonial perspective that includes environmental justice, indigenous histories, and the continuing effects of global capitalism. The Anthropocene thus provides an important space for rethinking postcolonialism: environmental destruction is simultaneously a planetary crisis and a crisis shaped by unequal histories of power, development, and resource exploitation.
Environmental degradation does not affect all communities equally. In formerly colonized nations, indigenous communities are often particularly vulnerable because their lives and livelihoods are closely connected with ancestral lands and natural resources. Barad’s discussion of internal colonialism shows that although formal colonial rule has ended, colonial patterns of dispossession can continue within decolonized nations. Indigenous communities may be pushed to the margins while their ancestral lands are appropriated for resource extraction and economic development. This process produces both social and ecological consequences: communities can lose their land, livelihoods, and access to resources while the environment is simultaneously damaged. Barad illustrates this through the Narmada Bachao Andolan, where large dam projects resulted in the displacement of tribal communities and environmental damage. The article also points to Central India, where the extraction of iron and bauxite has produced environmental degradation and conflicts with local populations. Such examples demonstrate that environmental injustice is also a question of power: communities with the strongest cultural and material relationships with the land may have the least control over decisions concerning its use. Therefore, ecological destruction in postcolonial societies must be examined alongside indigenous rights, dispossession, and continuing structures of economic domination.
Reading Chakravyuh through Internal Colonialism
Prakash Jha’s Chakravyuh can be read through the framework of internal colonialism developed in Barad’s article. The film presents the conflict between the state, corporate interests, and Maoist resistance in the context of tribal regions of Central India. Rather than viewing the conflict simply as a law-and-order problem, a postcolonial reading draws attention to the deeper struggle over land, natural resources, identity, and political power. Barad explains that internal colonialism occurs when colonial patterns of domination continue within formally decolonized nations, particularly when indigenous communities are dispossessed of ancestral lands for resource extraction and economic development. This framework is particularly relevant to Chakravyuh, where the lives and interests of marginalised communities are caught within a larger struggle involving the state and powerful economic forces. The film can therefore be understood as exposing how the formal end of colonial rule does not necessarily end structures of exploitation. Barad specifically identifies Central India as a region where the extraction of iron and bauxite has produced environmental degradation and conflicts with local populations. In this context, the forest and land are not merely physical spaces but sources of livelihood, community, identity, and belonging. Their appropriation transforms an environmental conflict into a social and political conflict. The resistance represented in Chakravyuh can consequently be examined as emerging from conditions of marginalisation and dispossession. At the same time, the film encourages a critical examination of the complex relationship between state authority, development, resource exploitation, and indigenous resistance. It reveals that environmental questions are inseparable from questions of justice and power in the postcolonial nation.
Capitalism, Resource Extraction and Dispossession
The conflict represented in Chakravyuh can also be understood through Barad’s discussion of capitalism, primitive accumulation, and dispossession. Drawing on Karl Marx, the article explains primitive accumulation as a process through which wealth and resources are concentrated by dispossessing communities of their common property and transforming land and labour into commodities. Rosa Luxemburg further argues that capitalism constantly requires new markets, resources, and labour, leading it to appropriate spaces and resources beyond its existing boundaries. These ideas are relevant to the conflicts depicted in Chakravyuh, where struggles surrounding natural resources are inseparable from struggles over power and livelihood. Barad specifically observes that Central India has become a battleground for resource extraction, particularly iron and bauxite, resulting in environmental degradation and conflicts with local populations. The article later connects this process with David Harvey’s concept of accumulation by dispossession, in which capital accumulates through the dispossession of people and communities from their assets, resources, and rights. From this perspective, the environmental conflict in Chakravyuh is not merely a conflict over development; it reflects a larger struggle over who has the authority to control land and natural resources and who bears the social and ecological costs of their exploitation. The film therefore becomes a useful cultural text for examining how capitalist development can reproduce forms of colonial domination even after formal colonial rule has ended.
Resistance and Environmental Justice
The struggles represented through Chakravyuh can also be understood as struggles for environmental justice. Barad’s article shows that resistance to environmental exploitation is often simultaneously a struggle for indigenous rights, land, livelihood, and political recognition. The Narmada Bachao Andolan, for instance, demonstrates how environmental movements can challenge projects that displace indigenous communities and cause ecological damage. In Central India, Barad similarly discusses resistance to the extraction of natural resources and the marginalisation of indigenous populations. Chakravyuh resonates with this context by representing resistance within a region marked by inequalities between marginalised communities and powerful institutions. A postcolonial interpretation, however, should recognise the complexity of such resistance rather than reducing it to a simple opposition between good and evil. The film invites us to ask why communities become involved in violent conflicts and what historical and material conditions produce such resistance. From this perspective, resistance becomes a response to structures of exclusion and dispossession. Environmental justice therefore requires more than protecting forests or natural resources in isolation; it requires attention to the people who depend upon these environments and whose voices have historically been marginalised. This perspective strengthens Barad’s argument that postcolonial studies must engage with environmental activism, indigenous struggles, and the continuing dynamics of exploitation in the globalised world.
Conclusion
The reading of Chakravyuh through Barad’s “Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future” demonstrates that environmental destruction in formerly colonized societies is inseparable from questions of history, power, capitalism, and justice. The film’s representation of conflict in Central India can be understood through the concept of internal colonialism, where indigenous communities continue to experience marginalisation and dispossession despite the formal end of colonial rule. Barad similarly argues that the continuing encroachment of global capital into natural and human resources reproduces patterns of plunder associated with colonialism. The Anthropocene therefore requires postcolonial studies to broaden its concerns beyond conventional questions of colonial domination and cultural identity. Chakrabarty’s idea of “species thinking,” discussed by Barad, calls for an understanding of humanity’s relationship with the wider ecological world while also recognising the historical inequalities that shape environmental crises. Ultimately, Chakravyuh shows that the struggle over natural resources is also a struggle over dignity, belonging, livelihood, and justice. In a globalised world, postcolonial critique remains relevant because the structures of exploitation may change their forms without disappearing. As Barad concludes, postcolonial studies must continue to connect colonial legacies with environmental crises and globalised capitalism while imagining more equitable and sustainable futures.
Reference:
Barad, Dilip. “Postcolonial Studies in the Anthropocene: Bridging Perspectives for a Sustainable Future.” Journal of Higher Education and Research Society, vol. 10, no. 2, Oct. 2022, pp. 201–213. ResearchGate, doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.18616.93444.
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