Rethinking 'tribe' identities
The politics of recognition among the Zo in north-east India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3865028 |
|---|---|
| Authors | H Kham Khan Suan (Political Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.., corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 157-187 |
| Publication date | 2011-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contributions to Indian Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0069-9659 • E-ISSN: 0069-9667 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/006996671104500201 |
| OpenAlex | W2005399770 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 17 |
The encounter between the state and disparate tribal groups in India's north-east or elsewhere not only affirms the state's monopoly of material and symbolic power but also opens up a complex and shifting discursive space. This article examines how the state's practice of recognising 'tribes' legitimises fixed and legible 'locational dialectal identities' among the 'Zo' in India's north-east and successfully transforms them into receivers of the state's largesse. At the same time, these practices also reveal the unsettled nature and fuzziness of 'tribe' identities as clans, dialects, and languages overlap and cross-cut each other. Although enlisting tribes among the Zo fits the state's 'classificatory' and 'serial-isation' grid, it also highlights the 'narcissism of minor differences' among them. While such enlisting helps expedite the integration of 'tribes' into the Indian state-nation building projects, it also unleashes contentious politics that prevent the emergence of larger frameworks of unity and solidarity across 'tribes'. Against this backdrop, the article ex-amines ongoing attempts among the Zo to redefine and rethink 'tribe' identities to tran-scend their 'locational dialectal identities
Aesthetics · Clan · Genealogy · Geography · Identity (music · Monopoly · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Solidarity · State (computer science · Tribe · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Computer Science · History · Law · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies
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| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,08 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2026 (14) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |