Debating Northeast India: Mapping Ethnic Identity Formation

Of late, ethnic Identity has become debatable issue in the academic discourse of Northeast India. The issue of ethnic identity is a very complex process in this region. That means the sharing of a common culture on the one hand, and harping on separateness on the other. It is argued that there are conflicting situations in the northeast because these ethnic groups are trying to explore and construct their own history, culture, politics and identity from their own perspective. In this context the main focus of this book is to represent the plural voices of the ethnic groups while negating with the existing dominant discourses in the present academic epistemology. These discourses neglected the ideological and mass political character of the ethnic groups who are constructing their identity and history through politics of difference, politics of recognition and experience of marginalization. These three political ideas could be considered as their political ideology that always sustained for mapping identity formation among the ethnic groups of Northeast India. This book is divided into five thematic sections covering 20 chapters by scholars and researchers and other experts from northeast region. In each section, four papers are included, each touching upon the main theme of the book.