Table Of ContentMohammad Izhar Hassan ·
Shouraseni Sen Roy ·
Uday Chatterjee · Samik Chakraborty ·
Uttara Singh Editors
Social
Morphology,
Human
Welfare, and
Sustainability
Social Morphology, Human Welfare,
and Sustainability
Mohammad Izhar Hassan
Shouraseni Sen Roy • Uday Chatterjee
Samik Chakraborty • Uttara Singh
Editors
Social Morphology, Human
Welfare, and Sustainability
Editors
Mohammad Izhar Hassan Shouraseni Sen Roy
Department of Geography Department of Geography and Sustainable
Maharshi Dayanand University Development
Rohtak, Haryana, India University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL, USA
Uday Chatterjee
Department of Geography Samik Chakraborty
Bhatter College Department of Geography
Dantan, West Bengal, India Manbhum Mahavidyalaya
Purulia, West Bengal, India
Uttara Singh
Department of Geography
CMP Degree College, University of
Allahabad
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India
ISBN 978-3-030-96759-8 ISBN 978-3-030-96760-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96760-4
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Dedicated to
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Foreword
It is a great honor for me to write a Foreword for the
book entitled Social Morphology, Human Welfare,
and Sustainability edited by Mohammad Izhar
Hassan, Shouraseni Sen Roy, Uday Chatterjee, Samik
Chakraborty, and Uttara Singh to be published by
Springer.
The term “human welfare” is very important in the
context of sustainable development, as well as sus-
tainability of the community and society. To enhance
sustainability, it is very important to understand the
social morphology. Thus, the book targets three
important keywords: social morphology, human wel-
fare, and sustainability. In the increasing urbanized world, we often overlook the
importance of human–nature relationship. COVID-19 was a major blow to the
urbanized lifestyle, where we tried to re-invent the importance of urban rural con-
nectivity, inclusive growth, and human—nature partnership. While we may not be
able to go back to the lifestyle 50 or 100 years back, we can learn and re-learn from
the past experiences, draw basic principles, and apply it to the current and future
context.
In the book, the inter-relationship of social morphology, human welfare, and
sustainability are analyzed based on six Parts with 28 chapters. The first Part elabo-
rates on the key-related concepts and the evolution of sustainability in terms of
human–nature interface. The second Part discusses on contemporary issues of social
welfare with critical issues of scenario analysis, elderly and juvenile security, men-
tal health, and maternal health. The third Part talks about social conflicts and
inequalities, with emphasis on regional disparity, urban challenges, and infrastruc-
tural inequalities. Part IV focuses on social security and related indifferences, with
emphasis on educational challenges, menstrual hygiene, female education, foreign
resident issues, informal workers, and women development issues. The fifth Part
focuses on hazard, disaster, and social behaviors, with focus on informal liveli-
hoods, traditional ecological knowledge, climate change, urbanization, and
vii
viii Foreword
flood-r elated issues. Finally, the last Part emphasizes on social sustainability with
analysis on sustainable agriculture, health care, ecological issues, rural develop-
ment, inclusiveness, and coastal challenges.
Thus, the book has a wide spectrum of different and detailed case analysis from
India, Bhutan, and African countries. The book is not only rich in covering varied
topics, but also have in-depth discussion, which will be beneficial for the students
and researchers in the related field. I would like to appreciate and congratulate the
editors for their noble initiative in bringing out this precious volume of contempo-
rary relevance. This book will be a great value addition to the new and upcoming
literatures on social issues, human welfare, environment, and sustainable develop-
ment issues. I hope it will be widely acclaimed by the geographers, social science
experts, development managers, practitioners, and decision-makers engaged in the
related topic.
Graduate School of Media and Governance Rajib Shaw
Keio University
Minato, Tokyo, Japan
Preface
Human civilization has been dynamic and constantly evolving since its inception,
and society forms an integral element of it. Over the ages, many civilizations have
developed and prospered, while many others have perished for various reasons. The
human race has confronted several upturns and downturns throughout its course of
history. Human societies have become more and more complex and heterogeneous
over time. In the primitive stage, humans lived a very simple life, with minimal
dependence on others for survival. The need for survival, however, necessitated an
increased interdependence between and among individuals, which, in turn, paved
the way for a more and more organized social life. This is how a complex network
of social relations came into existence.
Ever since their emergence on the earth, humans have derived their survival and
sustenance from the natural resource endowments of the mother earth. For a very
long time in human history, at least up to the onset of the industrial revolution some-
time in the middle of the eighteenth century, humans were insignificant to leave any
imprint on Mother Nature as minors. After that however, the use of large-scale tech-
nologies and explosion in industrial activities accompanied by unprecedented
human population growth has seriously impacted the cyclical, conservative, and
self-consistent processes of the ecosphere. In almost every walk of life, natural
products that were relatively congenial to ecological balance, have been replaced by
products that are non-bio-degradable and highly inimical to the environment.
Mother Nature has begun to start taking paybacks from human society. Thus, the
social system is confronted with a myriad of problems related to scarcity and pos-
sible exhaustion of key natural resources threatening a collapse of economic system
on the one hand and an impending environmental catastrophe on the other. Along
with this, the issue of a highly unequal access of people of different groups and
regions across the globe to some of the key resources is also a serious concern.
However, there is no reason for humankind giving up confidence. The social net-
work always moves forward through evolution by resolving the problems in the end.
Nowadays, sustainability may be the unanimously acknowledged notion that can be
the panacea to every social situation. Sustainable development should aim at limit-
ing over-exploitation of resources with zero wastage and resources for generations
ix
x Preface
to come. Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle should be the keywords
to attain a sustainable society. For instance, urbanization and industrialization are
essential for society’s betterment, but they must be methodical. The situations are
getting so complex that a large section of people across the globe are not even able
to fulfill their necessities. They are losing their source of livelihood, and the number
of social poor is increasing uninterruptedly. Discrimination against women, chil-
dren, the elderly, and transgender people is a regular incident. Population control is
no more an answer to it. Instead, it is time to look at the whole lot with sustainable
and welfare insights. Appropriate strategies should be devised to do away with mal-
treatment of Mother Nature in all forms. It is only then human society will survive.
Moreover, we need to be more sensitive to every social creature. We must reinstate
social security in all spheres of life. We should show extra protectiveness, especially
towards the socially vulnerable sections. Although the experts are constantly work-
ing to establish social sustainability, a mass awareness in this backdrop is necessary.
People should realize that they must maintain sustainability in every aspect of life
to ensure their existence.
The idea of this book is primarily conceived from the social welfare and sustain-
ability points of view. The title of the book consists of three expressions. While
“Social Morphology” mirrors humans’ role in shaping society in the overall frame-
work of the dynamics of human–nature interface, the other two viz., “Human
Welfare” and “Sustainability” revolve around the ultimate goal of a better future for
the human race. The book is organized under six select themes, each representing a
respective part. Human welfare forms the centre stage of discussion in the book,
although with due attention to the fact that society is insignificant without its discus-
sion in relation to nature.
There are 28 chapters in all, spread over six parts. Part I is introductory in nature
and encapsulates how cognition and actions are rooted in socio-nature and how sci-
ence can bridge this nature and human interface and, thus, help achieve a sustain-
able future for the global population across different time scales. In addition, issues
like forest management and its impact on tribal livelihood, and leadership as mir-
rored by changing societies are also discussed in this part I. Part II deliberates on
topics of contemporary issues of social welfare. The different chapters discuss the
issues pertaining to human welfare and demonstrate the application of the latest
geospatial techniques to identify the gaps between the policies and the actual situa-
tions. Part III discusses social conflicts and inequality that are the roots of all forms
of social asymmetry, including regional and intra-regional inequalities that expose
the nature of lopsided development processes. Part IV addresses wide-ranging
issues related to social security, deprivations, and social indifference. They include
issues of insurgency and banditry in Nigeria and the role of education problems of
menstrual hygiene management in rural Assam during times of humanitarian crisis,
female education and its impact on health in a select district of Uttar Pradesh, the
socio-cultural adaption of the Chinese community in Kolkata, challenges faced by
informal workers in Thimpu city of Bhutan, and lastly, a historical review of the
changing status of women empowerment and development in India. Part V is
devoted to case studies on social perspectives of hazards and disasters in different
Preface xi
parts of the world. The different chapters discuss the impact of global pandemic
Covid-19 on the informal livelihood in Masvingo (Zimbabwe); traditional ecologi-
cal knowledge vis-à-vis climate change; population growth and its impact on cli-
mate in Bengaluru (India); and the role of humans in increasing the vulnerability to
floods with respect to a wetland ecosystem in Kerala. Finally, Part VI discusses
social sustainability as a remedy to all the above mentioned issues. The chapters
discuss social involvement for forest management, sustainable agriculture, commu-
nity participation, role of agrarian economies in achieving sustainable development,
rural development, and geo-ecotourism.
To sum up, this book will certainly be instrumental in evolving a modus operandi
for the welfare of the society. The information contained in this book will be helpful
for students, researchers, policy makers, social scientists, environmentalists, and
professionals associated with NGOs, corporate sectors, government organizations,
and various other sectors dealing with natural hazards and disaster management.
Rohtak, Haryana, India Mohammad Izhar Hassan
Coral Gables, FL, USA Shouraseni Sen Roy
Dantan, West Bengal, India Uday Chatterjee
Purulia, West Bengal, India Samik Chakraborty
Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India Uttara Singh
