The Ecosystem of Exile Politics: Why Proximity and Precarity Matter for Bhutan's Homeland Activists - Softcover

Banki, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 150177820X ISBN 13: 9781501778209

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2024

Synopsis

The Ecosystem of Exile Politics relays the events in Bhutan that led to the exodus of one-sixth of the population, and then recounts the activism by Bhutan's refugee diaspora that followed in response. Susan Banki asserts that activism functions like a physical ecosystem, in which hubs of activism in different locations interact to pressure the home country.

For Bhutan's refugee mobilizers, physical proximity offers advantages in Nepal and India, where organizing protests, lobbying, and collecting information about government abuse in Bhutan is aided by being close to the homeland. But in an ecosystem of exile politics, proximity is both a boon and a bane. Sites proximate to Bhutan can be spaces of risk and disempowerment, and refugee activists rarely secure legal, political, and social protection. While distant diasporas in the Global North may not be in precarious situations, they cannot tap into the advantages of proximity. In examining these phenomena, The Ecosystem of Exile Politics adds to theoretical understandings of exile politics and to empirical research on Bhutan and its refugee population.

About this title

About the Author

Susan Banki is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. She focuses on human rights/social justice issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 150177820X
• ISBN 13: 9781501778209
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 186