Ethnicity, identity and the state in South Asia

This book is a collection of papers pre-
sented at an international conference on
Ethnicity, Identity and the State in South
Asia at the IACIS/ASRC in June 2000. The
essays attempt review of the phenomenon
of Ethnicity in the wake of the emerging
confluence between the local and the global
after globalization. To what extent the ear-
lier discourses and paradigms of defining
Ethnicity remain valid in an environment
that has been overtaken by a blurring of
distinctions between the concepts of race,
ethnicity and identity, remains the focus of
several of these essays. Linking these con-
cepts to the role and the capacity of the
State to manage the ethnic politics the es-
says deal with the phenomenon of Ethnic-
ity from fresh perspectives and have diverse
opinions and 'solution'.
The book is divided into three sections.
The first Section provides a theoretical per-
spective including an analysis of policies
that generate, and sustain manifestations of
Ethnicity. The second Section provides an
analysis of the problem in Nepal, Myanmar
and Sri Lanka. The next Section deals with
the Indian experience with several essays
on India's North East.
A welcome addition to the existing re-
sources, the volume provides insights into a
problem that has eluded effective solutions
and will continue to engage the attention of
serious scholars and policy makers in South
Asia.