Unheeded Hinterland: Identity and Sovereignty in Northeast India

This book presents a comprehensive account of the debates on sovereignty, self-determination and nationalist upsurges in India’s Northeast, especially Assam. At a deeper level, it analyses how multi-ethnic societies engage with the nation state. Based on the framework of international relations and geo-politics, the volume locates internal tensions and contradictions among different ethnic groups, alongside the complex interrelationships between the centre and the region. It also proposes a new structure of ‘Common Ethnic House’ to resolve persistent inter-ethnic tensions among different communities and the impasse between the Northeast and the centre.

This book will interest scholars and researchers of politics and international relations, sociology and social anthropology, area studies, peace and conflict studies, especially those concerned with South Asia and Northeast India.

Dilip Gogoi is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and teaches International Politics and Human Rights at Cotton College, Cotton College State University, Guwahati, Assam, India. An alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Gogoi has edited Beyond Borders: Look East Policy and Northeast India (2010), co-edited Shifting Terrain: Conflict Dynamics in Northeast India (2012) and Marginal Frontier: Select Essays on Northeast India (2012). His research interests span Northeast India and transnational relations.