Vernacular Politics in Northeast India: Democracy, Ethnicity, and Indigeneity

The book "Vernacular Politics in Northeast India" explores the diverse, animated, and poorly understood contemporary politics of Northeast India, offering insights into the categories and values that shape the region's political sphere. It demonstrates how different communities adapt democracy to their own needs, how ethnicity becomes a politically charged expression of local identities, and how forms and politics of indigeneity take on a life of their own.

Format: Hardback
Length: 426 pages
Publication date: 23 August 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Northeast India is a vibrant and complex region when it comes to contemporary politics and visions of the political. The diverse, animated, uncontainable, and poorly understood nature of this region's political landscape is unparalleled in India. Vernacular Politics in Northeast India provides insightful accounts into the driving forces and animating factors that shape the spirited political sphere of this region.

The book delves into the categories and values through which the people of Northeast India conceive of their political lives, offering a fresh perspective on the region's political dynamics. Comprising fourteen essays written by anthropologists, political scientists, historians, and geographers, the book explores the region's political life from various angles.

Through their collective insights, the authors demonstrate how different communities in Northeast India adapt democracy to their own unique contexts rather than conforming to modern democratic ideals. They highlight how ethnicity has become a politically charged expression of local identities, shaping the political landscape in profound ways. Moreover, the book explores how forms and politics of indigeneity take on a life of their own as they are taken up, articulated, reworked, and fought over by the people of Northeast India.

This region's political complexities and dynamism are further illuminated through the book's examination of the role of religion, language, and cultural heritage in shaping political identities and ideologies. The authors shed light on the ways in which these factors contribute to the region's political fragmentation and the challenges faced by its people in navigating the complex political landscape.

Vernacular Politics in Northeast India is a valuable contribution to the study of contemporary politics in India, offering a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of this region's political landscape. The book provides a wealth of insights and perspectives that will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and policymakers alike. By exploring the complex interplay between culture, identity, and politics, the book contributes to our understanding of the broader political dynamics of India and the challenges faced by its diverse regions.

Weight: 648g
Dimension: 223 x 146 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192863461