Ethnicity and Democracy in the Eastern Himalayan Borderland
Mona Chettri
- Title
- Ethnicity and Democracy in the Eastern Himalayan Borderland
- Subtitle
- Constructing Democracy
- Author
- Mona Chettri
- Price
- € 103,99
- ISBN
- 9789048527502
- Format
- eBook PDF (Adobe DRM)
- Number of pages
- 184
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 03 - 01 - 2017
- Dimensions
- 15.6 x 23.4 cm
- Series
- Asian Borderlands
- Category
- Anthropology
- Discipline
- Asian Studies
- Preview
- Download Preview
- Also available as
- Hardback - € 104,00
Introduction: Ethnic Identity and Politics in the Eastern Himalaya
Why Study the Eastern Himalayan Borderland?
Studying the Eastern Himalayan Borderland
Facilitating Ethnic Politics
1. Locating the Nepali in the Eastern Himalaya
Becoming Nepali: Colonial History and Ethnic Group Formation
Going to Muglan: Emigration from the Kingdom of Gorkha to India
Language and Ethnic Group Formation
Homogenization of the Nepalis and its Impact on Identity Formation
1.1 Identifying the Nepalis of the Eastern Himalaya
Gorkhaland: Homeland for the Indian-Nepalis
Deconstructing the Nepalis in Sikkim
Re-Claiming Limbuwan
2. The Ethnic Worldview: Framing Existential Grievances
Limbus of Eastern Nepal and the Politics of 'Jati and Nose'
Discriminating Against the Sons of the Soil: The Gorkhas of Darjeeling
Fostering Culture of Dependency in Sikkim
3. Ethnic Identity as Political Identity
The Political Resilience of the Brave Gorkha
Neither Mongol nor Kirat: Asserting the Limbu Identity
Claiming Exclusive Identities in Sikkim
4. Manifestations of Ethnic Politics
The Dress Code: Looking Like a Gorkha
Becoming a Tribe in Sikkim
Limbus as the Embodiment of the Indigenous Discourse
5. Constructing Democracy
Emergence of a New Patronage Structure
The New Elites
Expressing Agency Through Ethnic Politics
Regional Interpretation of Democracy
6. Being Nepali Across Borders
Of Ethnic Politics and democratic Cultures
Ethnic Politics as People's Politics
Reviews and Features
"The strength of this book is that it gives a clear understanding of the main debates and questions concerning a number of points on ethnicity and its construction in the region ... [It is] both intellectually fulfilling and displays a sound theoretical basis." - Mélanie Vandenhelsken, newbooks.asia, Summer 2020
"[This book] provides a valuable introduction to ethnic politics in the Himalayan borderland, suitable to students and policy makers alike. As the questions outlined in this review indicate, there are a number of fruitful pathways leading out from the book. Given the thick engagement with the area that Chettri’s work displays, we can only look forward to her future publications." - Rune Bennike, University of Copenhagen, Pacific Affairs, 91.3, October 2018
Mona Chettri
Ethnicity and Democracy in the Eastern Himalayan Borderland
Constructing Democracy
This book presents a close look at the growth, success, and proliferation of ethnic politics on the peripheries of modern South Asia, built around a case study of the Nepal ethnic group that lives in the borderlands of Sikkim, Darjeeling, and east Nepal. Grounded in historical and ethnographic research, it critically examines the relationship between culture and politics in a geographical space that is home to a diverse range of ethnic identities, showing how new modes of political representation, cultural activism, and everyday politics have emerged from the region.
Author
Mona Chettri
Mona Chettri is a Next Generation Network Scholar at the Australia-India Institute, University of Western Australia. She is the author of Ethnicity and Democracy in the Eastern Himalayan Borderland: Constructing Democracy (Amsterdam University Press, 2017). Her current research focuses on infrastructure, urbanisation, and gender in the Sikkim-Darjeeling Himalaya.
