The similarities and differences in the evolution of modern nations across the world are most evident in the ways in which ideas of development and progress engage with the natural environment. India and Australia as nation states emerge from the shared lineage of being part of the British Empire, which has characterized the nature of their respective journeys as modern nation states. Juxtaposing case studies from India and Australia reveals that although both locations differ in their particular historical and social contexts, both contend with similar challenges and compulsions, characteristic of modernity.

Employing a multi-scalar and interdisciplinary approach, this work examines issues of nature, nation and development within the context of modernity. While India and Australia have radically different historical imaginations, their paths now increasingly intersect, so that the task of making sense of their very different social imaginaries becomes vital to reimagining the dynamics between nations and nature. In this context, there is much to learn from their respective historic experiences and much that they have in common which demands attention in facing up to the major socioecological challenges of the twenty-first century. This book contributes towards trying to understand the ways in which nations are constantly imagined and find new ways of thinking about nature.