Indigeneity, Development and Sustainability: Perspectives from Northeast India

This volume presents cutting-edge research on India’s Northeast region relating to borders, material mobilities, contested identities, and economic and political dynamics. It offers a comprehensive understanding of the developmental challenges currently faced by Northeast India, including the complexities of the labor market and the neoliberal economy. The book highlights the lived experiences of individuals in varied geographies and perspectives. It is organized into five sections, each addressing the region’s old and vexed questions of ’development’, and its complicated relationship with indigeneity and sustainability. Contributions from scholars of various disciplines provide an all-inclusive picture of the region, ranging from a macro to a micro level. Interdisciplinary in nature, the book interests a cross-section of academics and graduate students from different disciplines, including sociology, social anthropology, economics, political science, human geography, history, public policy, and development studies.

Anjan Chakrabarti is a Professor-Director, UGC Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centre (formerly UGC HRDC), University of North Bengal, West Bengal. Previously, he served as an Associate Professor at the UGC Human Resource Development Centre, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, and as an Assistant Professor in Economics at St. Joseph’s College, Darjeeling. He also serves as a visiting professor at various Indian universities, including the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore. His research interests include development in the northeastern states of India, agrarian relations, agriculture in Bengal, and policy research. He has published more than 50 research papers in national and international journals and edited volumes. He completed seven research projects (International and National). He visited Europe and Southeast Asian countries to present his research findings, sponsored by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi. He authored ＂Economic Development and Employment in Sikkim＂ (Authors Press, New Delhi, 2009) and edited a volume entitled ＂Interrogating Development: Perspectives on Economy, Environment, Ethnicity, and Gender＂ (Setu Prakashani, Kolkata, 2017) and a textbook on Micro Economics in 2019 for undergraduate students. He has recently received the Global Education Leadership and Management Excellence Award from the Centre for Professional Advancement, West Midland, UK. He is also a recipient of the COVID-19 Warrior Award from the Jadavpur Association of International Relations (JAIR) for his social contribution in 2019. Presently, he is carrying out a major collaborative major empirical research project sponsored by ICSSR, New Delhi.

Gorky Chakraborty is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata (IDSK).He has contributed to variousacademic work relatedto Citizenship, Look East Policy, Migration, Human Geographies etc. The author’s works are focused on the North Eastern part of India. His recent published books are ＂Negotiating Borders andBorderlands: The Indian Experience＂, (Jointly edited with Supurna Banerjee), Orient Blackswan, 2023; Citizenship in Contemporary Times: The Indian Context, Routledge, 2023(edited); Water Conflicts in Northeast India (Jointly edited with K.J. Joy, Partha Das, Chandan Mahanta, Suhas Paranjape, Shruti Vispute), Routledge, 2017; Accumulation and Dispossession: Communal Land in Northeast India (Jointly edited with Asok Ray and Bhupen Sarmah), Akar Books, 2017; The Look East Policy and Northeast India (jointly with Asok Kumar Ray), Aakar Books, 2014 & Assam’s Hinterland: Society and Economy in the Char Areas, Akansha Publishing House, 2009.

Anup Shekhar Chakraborty is Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) Shillong, Meghalaya. He was previously faculty at the Department of Political Science & Political Studies, Netaji Institute for Asian Studies, Kolkata, West Bengal. He is also, a member of Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group (MCRG), Kolkata. He has over 17 years of teaching and research experience. Many of his works focus on the Himalayan region and India’s Northeast. He received the Sephis Codesria Young Historians Laureate2006 in Dakar, Senegal; Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and India Development Foundation’s ＂India Social Science Research Award 2009＂; and the C.R. Parekh Fellowship 2011-2012 at Asia Research Centre, London School of Economics. The Indian Political Science Association gave him the ＂National Young Political Scientist Award 2020＂ at the 59th All India Political Science Conference. His latest co-edited books include Queer and the Vernacular Languages in India: Studies in Contemporary Texts and Culture (with Kaustav Chakraborty (2023). Routledge); and Death and Dying in Northeast India: Indigeneity and Afterlife (with Parjanya Sen (2023). Routledge). He serves as one of the Guest Editors of the Special Issue on ＂LGBTQ+ People in Situations of Forced Displacement＂ (Oxford Journal of Refugee Studies. Oxford: UK); and the Special Issue on ＂Politics and the People in India: Modern and Historical perspectives＂ (Humanities and Social Science Communications. Springer Nature, UK).