THE POLITICS OF BELONGING IN THE HIMALAYAS
Local Attachments and Boundary Dynamics
Edited by Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka Bielefeld University, Germany
and Gerard Toffin National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Villejuif, France

The Politics of Belonging in the Himalayas is an exploration of the various forms of bonds and attachments by which individuals are bounded to their collectivities and localities in the Himalayan regions of India and Nepal. To grasp these phenomena adequately, the book proposes a new analytical approach through the concept of belonging.

The book is based on several case studies carried out by anthropologists, political science scholars, historians, and geographers who help bring together rich ethnographical data from different regions of the Himalayas. Organized in three parts, it describes the interactions between local forms of belonging and new forms of classification and governance imposed through national integration and transnational modes of politics.

The book analyses different types of societal formations in various historical periods and captures the ongoing change in them. Fundamentally, this collaborative publication is an attempt to go beyond (and beneath) identity constructions and to call into question the idea of permanence implied by the term.

Contents:

• Preface
• Introduction: Belonging and Multiple Attachments in Contemporary Himalayan Societies
  Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka and Gerard Toffin
• I: TERRITORIALITY AND INDIGENEITY
• Hamro Gaon: Practices of Belonging in Rural Nepal Anne De Sales
• Fluid Belongings: The Weight of Places in a Valley of Western Nepal Gisele Krauskopff
• Belonging, Indigeneity, Rites, and Rights: The Newar Case David N Gellner
• Belonging to the Borders: Uncertain Identities in Northeast India Philippe Ramirez
• Politics of Belonging: Identity and State-formation in Nagaland Sanjay Kumar Pandey
• II: SOCIO-RELIGIOUS BONDING
• To Whom does the Pashupatinath Temple of Nepal Belong? Axel Micaels
• Brotherhood and Divine Bonding in the Krishna Pranami Sect Gerard Toffin
• Religion, Rituals, and Symbols of Belonging: The Case of Uttarakhand William Sax
• The Politics of Encounter: Hindu Belonging in a Multi-faith Pilgrimage Site in Nepal Jessamine Dana
• III: COMMITMENTS AND CONFLICTS
• Emergent Nationalism, Citizenship, and Belonging among Nepalis in Banaras: The Case of Kashi Bahadur Shrestha Martin Gaenszle
• Pathways of Place Relation: Moving Contours of Belonging in Central Nepal Ben Campbell
• Belonging, Protected Areas, and Participatory Management: The Case of Kaziranga National Park (Assam) and of the Misings’ Shifting Territory Joelle Smadja
• Geocultural Identities and Belonging in the Ethnohistory of Central Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India Maheshwar P Joshi
• Trials, Witnesses, and Local Stakes in a District Court of Himachal Pradesh Daniela Berti
• Glossary and Abbreviations
• Name Index
• Subject Index