Politics Of Ethnicity In India Nepal And China

The indigenous population, with their rich culture and heritage, represent an important component of Indian and Himalayan civilizations. Politics of Ethnicity in India, Neapal and China reviews the social, cultural and political processes that have shaped these indigenous societies in India, Nepal and China in recent years. The ethnic minorities, legally recognized in India and Nepal have emerged as powerful groups influencing the political imagery in both these countries. In Nepal, the staggering diversity of the Himalayan population poses a problem for the authorities. They include economically and culturally diverse groups, spread throughout the region. The state, partially inspired by India is now looking at institutionalizing procedures to integrate the indigenous people as citizens. In India, the threat of ethnic conflict has driven the Indian state to recognize new states and form autonomous district councils, paving way for an asymmetrical federalism where federal units are being devolved special powers. The acknowledgement of indigenous languages and scripts by the Constitution of India has offered the possibility for janjatis/adivasis to assert themselves. Likewise, the recent policies in favour of ethnic minority groups and their culture in Nepal have generated various initiatives from local communities to develop their often endangered culture. Both in India and Nepal, these changes impact the discourse held by leaders who are now claiming a history and culture for their own group. The construction of an identity through narratives, village theatre and other cultural expressions have become part of the subtle process of reinventing tradition. The Politics of Ethnicity in India, Nepal and China analyzes the reshaping of ethnic boundaries through acculturation, conversion, education, and religious movements, in times of conflict as well as in times of peace, highlighting how the indigenous people of India and Nepal frame a new sense of identity informed by 'reinvented' custom. This may offer a way to conciliate self-governance and democracy. In India, development programmes launched in different regions by the states have led to further deprivation of indigenous people and conflicts over environmental issues. This volume enables the reader to grasp the reformulation of identities influenced by cultural strategies of empowerment. As mentioned earlier, in both India and Nepal, the tribal has been considered a political agent in the national imagination. Besides, it is not by chance that current concern over biodiversity in a globalizing world has in many ways laid hope in tribal practices which are regarded as sustainable. Yet biodiversity also comes with the promise of a different lifestyle contrasting with the homogenized consumerism which dominates today's capitalist economy. Adivasi/janajati societies have often developed a policy of resisting global, capital, savage and corrupt industrial exploitation. For instance, they maintain 'sacred groves' as religious emblems of indigenous knowledge in central India and in the Khasi and Garo hills. This volume also discusses the progressive discovery of tribal art and its present status in the national context. It traces the story of how these art forms came to be recognized as such, underlining factors such as state patronage, which played an important role in this process. Retracing the path these artefacts took from local workshops to craft-exhibitions, museums and shops in the capital of Orissa State and on to those of the Indian Union capital city (New Delhi).

The Present Study Focuses On The Implications For India And China Of A Sustained Political Instability And Ensuing Violence Inside Nepal With Geo-Strategic Importance To Both The Asian Giants. The Book Traces The Crisis From Political Instability To Unfair Social System Affecting All Levels Of The Kingdom`S Polity.

This volume takes a long-term view of the various processes of ethnic and national development that have been displayed, both before and after 1990. It brings together twelve carefully chosen ethnographic and historical chapters covering all of the

For ages, India has had a close and unique relationship with Nepal. Across the open border between the two countries millions of people travel to each other s country for their livelihood, for pleasure and social contacts. The border for all practical purposes does not exist and there is nor hassle of passports and visas, almost unparalleled anywhere in the world. Yet the political and diplomatic relations between the two countries have not been uniformly good. India s ties with the two close neighbnours, Nepal and China, and their inter-relationship form the subject of this book. To a substantial extent, Chinese foreign policy has influenced the course of Nepal s relations with India. A triangle is thus formed which is explored here in the context of treaties and agreements. Nepal is the focus of the book but India s relations with China are also examined in depth. The relevant treaties are reproduced for ready reference. India s ties with her neighbours have been close and special importance is attached to them in the framing and conduct of foreign policy. But the experience has not been uniformly happy. The problems encountered in the Indian policy towards Nepal and China have been discussed here in detail.

The first comprehensive ethnography of the Thangmi, a marginalized community who migrate between Himalayan border zones, Rituals of Ethnicity explores Thangmi cultural worlds and regional political histories to offer a new explanation for the persistence of enduring ethnic identities despite the realities of mobile, hybrid lives.

Despite implicating ethnicity in everything from civil war to economic failure, researchers seldom consult psychological research when addressing the most basic question: What is ethnicity? The result is a radical scholarly divide generating contradictory recommendations for solving ethnic conflict. Research into how the human brain actually works demands a revision of existing schools of thought. Hale argues ethnic identity is a cognitive uncertainty-reduction device with special capacity to exacerbate, but not cause, collective action problems. This produces a new general theory of ethnic conflict that can improve both understanding and practice. A deep study of separatism in the USSR and CIS demonstrates the theory's potential, mobilizing evidence from elite interviews, three local languages, and mass surveys. The outcome significantly reinterprets nationalism's role in CIS relations and the USSR's breakup, which turns out to have been a far more contingent event than commonly recognized.

Despite more than a decade of rapid economic development, rising living standards, and large-scale improvements in infrastructure and services, China's western borderlands are awash in a wave of ethnic unrest not seen since the 1950s. Through on-the-ground interviews and firsthand observations, the international experts in this volume create an invaluable record of the conflicts and protests as they have unfolded—the most extensive chronicle of events to date. The authors examine the factors driving the unrest in Tibet and Xinjiang and the political strategies used to suppress them. They also explain why certain areas have seen higher concentrations of ethnic-based violence than others. Essential reading for anyone struggling to understand the origins of unrest in contemporary Tibet and Xinjiang, this volume considers the role of propaganda and education as generators and sources of conflict. It links interethnic strife to economic growth and connects environmental degradation to increased instability. It captures the subtle difference between violence in urban Xinjiang and conflict in rural Tibet, with detailed portraits of everyday individuals caught among the pressures of politics, history, personal interest, and global movements with local resonance.

Lucian Pye, one of the most knowledgeable observers of China, unfolds in this book a deep psychological analysis of Chinese political culture. The dynamics of the Cultural Revolution, the behavior of the Red Guards, and the compulsions of Mao Tse-tung are among the important symptoms examined. But Pye goes behind large events, exploring the more enduring aspects of Chinese culture and the stable elements of the national psychology as they have been manifested in traditional, Republican, and Communist periods. He also scans several possible paths of future development. The emphasis is on the roles long played by authority, order, hierarchy, and emotional quietism in Chinese political culture as shaped by the Confucian tradition and the institution of filial piety, and the resulting confusions brought about by the displacements of these traditions in the face of political change and modernization. In this new edition Pye adds a chapter on the basic tension between consensus and conflict in the operation of Chinese politics, illustrating the "spirit" in action, and another discussing the great gap that persists between the worlds of the political leadership and of society at large in post-Tiananmen China.