Author(s): Rajesh Kumar Maity

Abstract: The escalating environmental crisis is frequently framed through a universalized lens of “global threat,” a discourse that obscures the uneven distribution of ecological vulnerability. This article examines Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide (2004) as a sophisticated counter-archive that challenges abstract narratives by documenting the intersection of ecological degradation and structural abandonment in the Bengal Sundarbans. Using concepts such as Achille Mbembe’s 'Necropolitics', Rob Nixon’s 'Slow Violence', and Judith Butler’s notion of 'Grievability', the study argues that the Sundarbans acts as a “State of Exception” where the postcolonial state decides whose lives are allowed to be lived and whose are allowed to wither. The concept of Ecoprecarity is central to this analysis. It captures the entanglement of damaged environments with the corporeal vulnerability of the subaltern body. This article analyses how conservation and development have been weaponised as necropolitical tools, as well as the historical Morichjhapi massacre and the struggles of characters like Fokir. The state naturalizes systemic neglect by privileging endangered species over marginalised settlers. The state also frames death as inevitable “acts of God” rather than outcomes of political choice. Ultimately, Ghosh’s novel resists the erasure of ungrievable lives, offering a visceral critique of an environmentalism detached from social justice.

Keywords: Ecoprecarity, Ecological Vulnerability, Environmental Justice, Grievability, Necropolitics, Slow Violence, Subaltern Studies

Article Info: Received: 05 Apr 2026; Received in revised form: 03 May 2026; Accepted: 06 May 2026; Available online: 10 May 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.113.8