Arun Agrawal is an Indian-origin political scientist whose work focuses on environmental politics, natural resource governance, and the political economy of development. He is widely associated with research on community-based forest management, decentralisation, and the institutions that shape human interactions with the environment in South Asia and other parts of the developing world.
| Name | Arun Agrawal |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Indian |
| Field | Political science |
| Areas of research | Environmental politics, natural resource governance, forest management, decentralisation, development |
Agrawal's scholarship sits at the intersection of political science, environmental studies, and development. His research has examined how local communities, state institutions, and international actors interact in the management of common-pool resources, particularly forests, and how policy choices around decentralisation influence environmental and livelihood outcomes.
Agrawal's work is frequently cited in academic and policy discussions on community-based natural resource management and the governance of forests in the Global South. His writing has contributed to debates about the role of local institutions in sustaining ecosystems and the ways in which state policy can either support or undermine community stewardship.