Fixed Borders, Fluid Boundaries: Identity, Resources and Mobility in Northeast India

This book provides an understanding of the challenges in Northeast India in terms of the nature of flows and ruptures in the daily lives of people. It brings together multiple and interconnected issues of identity, development, environment, migration, land alienation and policy impacts to the forefront.

Northeast India’s history is affected both by internal dynamic processes, as are its linkages with adjoining countries, marked by a fluid movement of people and goods across porous borders. The book explores how the region has emerged as a resource frontier for the global markets, yet its resource mobilization has led to disparity within the region. The volume discusses key themes concerning the region such as the processes of development and people’s resistance; underdevelopment in the peripheral areas; resource flow and conflict; community response and local agency; state and customary practices; politics of land and citizenship; development-induced dispossession; human mobility, immigration and conflict; the notion of "outsiders"; inter-state border conflict; and spatial connections.

Rich in empirical data, the volume will be relevant and useful for students and researchers of development studies, Northeast India studies, sociology, political science, border and migration studies, public policy, peace and conflict studies, as well as practitioners and policymakers.

Chandan Kumar Sharma is Professor of Sociology at Tezpur University, Assam, India.

Reshmi Banerjee is a political scientist based in London, UK, and is currently a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, India.