Postcolonial Hinterlands in India

This volume offers an insightful and compelling exploration of the complex dynamics that define governance, identity and power in India’s Northeast. It challenges conventional post-colonial narratives by asserting that the departure of colonial rulers did not precipitate a clean break but instead initiated intricate continuities that continue to shape the region’s societal structures. It puts forward the concept of ‘postcolonial hinterlands’, a nuanced framework for understanding spaces and identities that lie outside dominant national constructs in post-colonial settings. It highlights how the interactions in this framework between marginalized identities and the entrenched nation-state model create a unique emplaced space that forms the basis for the volume’s broader inquiries.

The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of politics, post-colonial polities, postcolonialism, and South Asian studies.

Dr. Samir Kumar Das is professor of political science at the University of Calcutta, India. He specializes in and writes on issues of ethnicity, identity, security, migration, rights and justice. Some of his publications include Migrations, Identities and Democratic Practices in India (Routledge), Governing India’s Northeast: Essays on Insurgency, Development and the Culture of Peace (Springer) and Peace in India’s Northeast: The Role of Civil Society (East-West Center) amongst others.