Decades of conflict and war have forced millions of men, women and children to flee from their homes and seek refuge in other parts of the country or in foreign lands - Afghanistan is one such country. This book is a study of the displaced Afghan migrant population in India, in particular the persecuted Sikhs and Hindus who are religious minorities in Afghanistan and make up a majority of Afghan migrants in India. It explores the relationship between acculturation and identity development. By focusing on the interactions between the Afghan immigrant population and the Indian society, the author analyses how the community negotiates identity and marginality in a country that does not recognize them as refugees. The author explains how the Afghan migrant population manages and negotiates various identities, bestowed upon them by the societies in their home and host countries in their day to day existence in India. An important study of acculturation and adaptation issues of migrant groups in the setting of a developing country, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of refugee and migration studies, ethnography of (ethnic) identity, and Middle East and South Asian Studies.

The book takes a close look into the definitions and categorizations of marginality, inequality, agency and location in society. It examines the systems of marginalization and othering by exploring perspectives of socially excluded people and communities in Northeast India. The context of Northeast India provides unique perspectives on the debates around marginality due to the existence of multi-ethnic cultures in the region and since its prolonged colonial historical experience alienated it from the rest of India. This volume focuses on the issues pertaining to tribe, caste, gender identity, religion, and physical disability in the region. It also looks at the roles which institutions, education and the media play in the creation and perpetuation of social exclusion and the centre—periphery binary. With essays from eminent scholars and social scientists, the book discusses themes such as citizenship and borders, national and tribal identity, the role of the law, government and policies for countering exclusion and the challenges which socially excluded groups and communities face to gain agency, autonomy and the right to equality. This book will be useful for scholars and researchers of sociology, Northeast India studies, political sociology, development studies, political science, gender studies, and social anthropology.

This book provides an in-depth analysis and critical examination of the representation of ethnic, sexual, cultural, and individual identities in selected literary works by contemporary writers from Northeast India. The book explores the complex dynamics of identity construction, sexuality, marginalisation, ethnicity, and belonging in the context of Meghalaya and Northeast India as a whole. The author analyses poetry and prose by Janice Pariat, Anjum Hasan, Kynpham Singh Nongkynrih, and other Khasi writers. These works candidly portray the turmoil afflicting contemporary Meghalaya – from insurgency and ethnic tensions to ecological threats and loss of roots as well as reconciliation, integration, and mutual understanding. Using postmodern and postcolonial literary strategies, the book depicts fluid, heterogeneous, and multifaceted notions of identity in Northeast India. An exploration of ethnicity, belonging, and unbelonging in the Northeastern context, this book presents marginalised voices and liminal spaces. It will be of interest to academics focusing on Indian English literature, postcolonial literature, and South Asian Studies.

This volume engages with the renewed focus on various forms of persisting and new marginalities in globalising India. The persistence of hunger in pockets of India; forcible land acquisitions and their impact on deprived sections of society; the effects of urban relocations; material deprivation of minority groups and tribes as a result of conflicts; continuing caste discrimination; reported cases of atrocities against lower castes and tribes; regional disparities; gendered forms of exclusion and those related to disability and many other conditions suggest the need to rethink notions and practices of marginality and exclusion in India. This volume critiques the principal ways of thinking about marginalities, which primarily consist of a focus on normative principles, and brings into focus the chasm between such principles and subjective notions and experiences of marginality and injustice. The uniqueness of this edited volume is that it connects theoretical perspectives with empirical case studies and discussions, and cases of exclusion are discussed within an overall inclusive and integrated framework. This is a valuable resource for researchers, scholars, students, public policy formulators and for social innovators from private sectors and non-government organisations.

Since colonial rule, the island of Java served as Indonesia’s imagined centre and prime example of development, while the Outer Islands were constructed as the state’s marginalised periphery. Recent processes of democratisation and regional autonomy, however, have significantly changed the power relations that once produced the marginality of the Outer Islands. This book explores processes of political, economic and cultural transformations in Indonesia, emphasizing their implications for centre-periphery relations from the perspective of the archipelago’s ‘margins’. Structured along three central themes, the book first provides theoretical contributions to the understanding of marginality in Indonesia. The second part focuses on political transformation processes and their implications for the Outer Islands. The third section investigates the dynamics caused by economic changes on Indonesia’s periphery. Chapters writtten by experts in the field offer examples from various regions, which demonstrate how power relations between centre and periphery are getting challenged, contested and reshaped. The book fills a gap in the literature by analysing the implications of the recent transformation processes for the construction of marginality on Indonesia’s Outer Islands.

This book examines the increasing marginalization of and response by people living in urban areas throughout the Western Hemisphere, and both the local and global implications of continued colonial racial hierarchies and the often-dire consequences they have for people perceived as different. However, in the aftermath of recent U.S. elections, whiteness also seems to embody strictures on religion, ethnicity, country of origin, and almost any other personal characteristic deemed suspect at the moment. For that reason, gender, race, and even class, collectively, may not be sufficient units of analysis to study the marginalizing mechanisms of the urban center. The authors interrogate the social and institutional structures that facilitate the disenfranchisement or downward trajectory of groups, and their potential or subsequent lack of access to mainstream rewards. The book also seeks to highlight examples where marginalized groups have found ways to assert their equality. No recent texts have attempted to connect the mechanisms of marginality across geographical and political boundaries within the Western Hemisphere.

With globalization has come an increased focus on food—where it comes from, how it is transported, who eats it, and what cultural significance it has. This volume brings together ethnographically based anthropological analyses of shifting meanings and representations associated with the foods, ingredients, and cooking practices of marginalized and/or indigenous cultures. Contributors are particularly interested in how these foods intersect with politics, nationhood and governance, identity, authenticity, and conservation. The chapters cover diverse locales, issues, and foods: the cultural meanings of sinonggi, a thick sago porridge from Sulawesi, Indonesia; the significance of pom, a Surinam dish popular in the Netherlands; the transformation of alpaca meat in Peru; the impact of culinary tourism on indigenous cuisine in Mexico; the re-presenting of minor millets in South India; and the development of cheeses in the Italian Alps. A conceptual essay on food and social boundaries rounds out the collection. Throughout, the contributors address important questions, including: How are traditional foods “repackaged” in the process of mainstreaming access? What does this repackaging mean for the ways local or indigenous peoples view their traditional food practices? How are local cuisines mobilized in movements to create national images and identities? What tensions emerge between new representations of foods and local cultural meanings? Together the contributors provide a thoughtful inquiry into what happens when food and culinary practices are moved from the cultural or physical margins, and how such movements can be shaped by—and employed in the pursuit of—political, social, and cultural goals.

This book intersects marginality, politics, and policies by focusing on the narratives of selective marginalised groups within India. Encouraging inclusive government policies that consider the diverse identities of individuals and groups within India, this book is a systematic documentation of the lived experiences of various marginalised collectives, such as the Naths of Bengal, the De‐notified Tribes of Maharashtra, the Kukis of Manipur, and the beggars. The chapters use historiography as a method to understand narratives of marginality in India, illuminating how power imbalances in Indian society lead to the marginalisation of specific groups, depriving them of fundamental rights and opportunities, while others enjoy privileges. The political analysis of this edited volume introspects the political dynamics that perpetuate marginalisation. It details the aspirations of various marginal groups in evolving and changing socio‐political circumstances. This book offers a deeper understanding of the intricate issues faced by marginalised groups. It will be of interest to students, academicians, and researchers in South Asian Studies, Subaltern Studies, Political Science, Sociology, Social History, and Migration/Refugee Studies.

In recent years, Bengali Muslims in India have faced harassment and scapegoating as the trope of the illegal Bangladeshi has gained political currency. India's Bangladesh Problem explores the experience of Bengali Muslims on the Indian side of the India–Bangladesh border in the context of neoliberal policies, unequal bilateral relations, labor migration, contested citizenship, and increasingly xenophobic government rhetoric. Drawing on extensive research in the borderlands and hinterlands of both countries, Navine Murshid argues that ever-deepening neoliberal policies across the border have shaped how certain ethnic groups are valued and have reconfigured social hierarchies. She provides new insights into the strategic inclusion, exclusion, and invisibility that characterizes Bengali Muslims' lives, rendering them a group susceptible to manipulation by virtue of their ethnic kinship to the majority of Bangladeshis. In turn, Bengali Muslims simultaneously resist and utilize received neoliberal ideas to sustain their lives and livelihoods at a time when neoliberal development has largely bypassed them.

This collection analyzes the affinities and interactions between Indic and Judaic civilizations from ancient to contemporary times. The contributors propose a new, global understanding of commerce and culture, to reconfigure how we understand the way great cultures interact, and present a new constellation of diplomacy, literature, and geopolitics.