Abstract: Abstract Diversity as a social fact always existed in the world at large but it becomes a problem when it exists within the territory of a state or when the cultural or racial differences become the basis of group inequality or when the different groups perceive one another as threats to their identity. The nature of diversity in India's Northeast represents bewildering mosaics of different collective identities—religious, linguistic, and ethnic—that overlap and cut across one another in innumerable ways. The intensification of identity politics centering around ethnicity is one of the distinguishing features of recent political history of Northeast India. For creating and consolidating its respective identities every ethnic group makes efforts to construct its ‘other’. As the number of identities increases, list of others also multiplies. The logic of the ‘other’ is always seen in relation to the community to which she/he belongs. ‘The other’ is one who has come to dominate and exploit. The ideology of ‘the other’ motivates and guides identity politics in Northeast India. The atmosphere of mistrust generated by fears of domination and vengeance over one group by another has been heightened in the wake of various ethnic conflicts in Northeast India in past few years. Moreover, the cultural processes, values, and practices of ethnic groups are increasingly becoming political resources for elites in competition for political power or economic advantage. They become symbols and referents for the identification of members of the group which are called up in order to create a political identity more easily.
Publication Year: 2015
Publication Date: 2015-01-27
Language: en
Type: book
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 2
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