SASNET seminar: Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India’s Jharkhand

The Swedish South Asian Studies Network (SASNET) will be hosting a seminar on 24 October 2024 entitled ‘’Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India’s Jharkhand’’.

Established in 2000 after a prolonged campaign, Jharkhand—meaning “the land of forests”—serves as a significant example of regional autonomy and self-determination for Indigenous communities within a postcolonial democracy. Over the past two decades, the state has seen political instability, with various groups vying to mobilize Indigenous subaltern communities for diverse political goals.

In her book ‘Reclaiming Indigeneity and Decocracy in India’s Jharkhand, Ipshita Basu, which will be presenting in the seminar, ‘’ highlights relations of justification as a central feature of claims-making for social groups identifying as indigenous in diverse ways.’’ The book specifically addresses the effort to reclaim political recognition for Adivasis within today’s complex landscape of majoritarian populism and a dominant market economy.