The Politics of Ethnicity in India, Nepal and China
Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. Historical anthropology and the primitive: rethinking the 1931 census of India/Daniel J. Rycroft. 2. Autochthony and indigeneity in Nepal and the Himalayas/Gerard Toffin. 3. The Santal as an intellectual/Marine Carrin. 4. In Defence of their endangered life worlds: the Adivasi uprisings in contemporary Odisha/Pralay Kanungo. 5. Tribal artisans and artists in Odisha: Between craft promotion, ethnic tourism and Indian primitivism/Raphael Rousseleau. 6. Surging between Telangana and Seemandhra: Adivasi identity and political assertion through Manneseema Rashtram (State of Forest Dwellers)/Thanuja Mummidi. 7. Resisting nation-state: ethnic upsurge in post-colonial North-East India/Sajal Nag. 8. Promissory note: Nepal’s left movement and the Janajatis/Deepak Thapa. 9. Identity construction among Adivasis of Gujarat after Independence/Satyakam Joshi. 10. Cross-currents: travelling shadows of a conversion in the Naguri Munda region of Jharkhand/Kaushik Ghosh. 11. From blood to scripture: Matharvanam movement and the making of identity among the Sora/Cecile Guillaume Pey. 12. Sagram Murmu and the formation of a linguistic identity/Peter B. Andersen. 13. Expansion of the public sphere amidst market challenges: Janajati magazines in Nepal in the 1990s/Pratyoush Onta. 14. The politics of ethnicity in China and the process of homogenization of the Yi nationality/Aurelie Nevot. 15. The role of the indigenous peoples movement in international organizations/Irene Bellier. Index.
The various ethno-linguistic minorities of India, Nepal and China with their rich culture and heritage represent an important component of these three countries. The Politics of Ethnicity in India, Nepal and China critically reflects on the social, cultural and political processes that have shaped these societies since the 1950s. By and large, ethnic minorities have emerged as powerful groups in the internal politics in most parts of South Asia and the Far East. In an attempt to partly accommodate the political and economic aspirations of some of these ethnic groups, in India, the authorities have created smaller states on the basis of language, culture, and in some cases economic backwardness. (jacket)
