INDIGENEITY, CITIZENSHIP AND THE STATE: Perspectives from India’s Northeast

Description

Whatever be the definition of ‘indigenous’ vis-a-vis ‘indigeneity’, and however concensual it might be, both these terms have been inferred, applied and questioned in multifarious ways. The concept indigeneity in Asia has transformed considerably, over a period of time. With the rise in the indigeneity movement and large-scale migration, citizenship within national borders is challenged, and the borders in question are also contested. The book chronicles the discernible strains on the questions of indegeneity, citizenship, identity, and border making in the Northeast. The issues pertaining to indigeneity, citizenship, and state, are also a reminder of the residues of colonial doings that have had a colossal impact till this day.

Through empirical evidence backed by theoretical underpinnings, each essay in the book demonstrates the diversity of approaches that can be used to interrogate the debate on indegeneity, citizenship, the state, and opens the conversation on Northeast India.

Kidelezo Kikhi is a Chair Professor, Dr. Ambedkar Chair, and Professor at the Department of Sociology, Tezpur University, Assam. He holds a PhD in Sociology from North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong and has publicatiosn in journals of repute to his credit. Two of his more recent books include India’s Northeast – Nagaland: Vibrant Ethnic Communities in Transition (2 Vols.) and The Dynamics of Development in Northeast India.

Amiya Kumar Das is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology and coordinator of the Centre for Public Policy and Governance at Tezpur University, Assam. He has co-edited books entitled Neighbourhoods in Urban India: In Between Home and the City (2021) and Investigating Developmentalism: Notions of Development in the Social Sphere (2019).

Piyashi Dutta, has a PhD in Sociology from Tezpur University, Assam, and is currently affiliated with the Amity School of Communication, Amity University, Noida, as an Assistant Professor. She is a research consultant having worked for organizations like the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), New Delhi.