The Demands of Recognition

State Anthropology and Ethnopolitics in Darjeeling

Nonfiction, History, Asian, India, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology, Political Science
Cover of the book The Demands of Recognition by Townsend Middleton, Stanford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Townsend Middleton ISBN: 9780804796309
Publisher: Stanford University Press Publication: October 21, 2015
Imprint: Stanford University Press Language: English
Author: Townsend Middleton
ISBN: 9780804796309
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Publication: October 21, 2015
Imprint: Stanford University Press
Language: English

Since the British colonial period anthropology has been central to policy in India. But today, while the Indian state continues to use ethnography to govern, those who were the "objects" of study are harnessing disciplinary knowledge to redefine their communities, achieve greater prosperity, and secure political rights. In this groundbreaking study, Townsend Middleton tracks these newfound "lives" of anthropology. Offering simultaneous ethnographies of the people of Darjeeling's quest for "tribal" status and the government anthropologists handling their claims, Middleton exposes how minorities are—and are not—recognized for affirmative action and autonomy. We encounter communities putting on elaborate spectacles of sacrifice, exorcism, bows and arrows, and blood drinking to prove their "primitiveness" and "backwardness." Conversely, we see government anthropologists struggle for the ethnographic truth as communities increasingly turn academic paradigms back upon the state. The Demands of Recognition offers a compelling look at the escalating politics of tribal recognition in India. At once ethnographic and historical, it chronicles how multicultural governance has motivated the people of Darjeeling to ethnologically redefine themselves—from Gorkha to tribal and back. But as these communities now know, not all forms of difference are legible in the eyes of the state. The Gorkhas' search for recognition has only amplified these communities' anxieties about who they are—and who they must be—if they are to attain the rights, autonomy, and belonging they desire.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Since the British colonial period anthropology has been central to policy in India. But today, while the Indian state continues to use ethnography to govern, those who were the "objects" of study are harnessing disciplinary knowledge to redefine their communities, achieve greater prosperity, and secure political rights. In this groundbreaking study, Townsend Middleton tracks these newfound "lives" of anthropology. Offering simultaneous ethnographies of the people of Darjeeling's quest for "tribal" status and the government anthropologists handling their claims, Middleton exposes how minorities are—and are not—recognized for affirmative action and autonomy. We encounter communities putting on elaborate spectacles of sacrifice, exorcism, bows and arrows, and blood drinking to prove their "primitiveness" and "backwardness." Conversely, we see government anthropologists struggle for the ethnographic truth as communities increasingly turn academic paradigms back upon the state. The Demands of Recognition offers a compelling look at the escalating politics of tribal recognition in India. At once ethnographic and historical, it chronicles how multicultural governance has motivated the people of Darjeeling to ethnologically redefine themselves—from Gorkha to tribal and back. But as these communities now know, not all forms of difference are legible in the eyes of the state. The Gorkhas' search for recognition has only amplified these communities' anxieties about who they are—and who they must be—if they are to attain the rights, autonomy, and belonging they desire.

More books from Stanford University Press

Cover of the book Imaginative Geographies of Algerian Violence by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book The New Great Game by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Navigating Austerity by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Nineteenth-Century Jewish Literature by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Desire and Distance by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Better Safe Than Sorry by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Transforming Comparative Education by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Taiwan’s China Dilemma by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Inventing New Beginnings by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Gulf Security and the U.S. Military by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Zooland by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Militants or Partisans by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Palestinian Commemoration in Israel by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Mandarin Brazil by Townsend Middleton
Cover of the book Less Rightly Said by Townsend Middleton
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy