Borderland City in New India. Frontier to Gateway

McDuie‐Ra, Duncan

doi:10.5117/aup.7746449

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…All have aligned themselves with the central government's urban development agenda to find additional ways to receive finance and to cope with the realities of rapidly urbanizing populations. In these states the priorities of urban development have been towns and cities with large populations, histories of urban settlement and long‐standing urban problems, including friction between customary and municipal authority, migration, military occupation and expansion, and rapid settlement by people fleeing violence and counterinsurgency operations (see McDuie‐Ra, , ). The cities that successfully bid for Smart City status in these states — Aizawl (Mizoram), Imphal (Manipur), Kohima (Nagaland) — and others that are still bidding, such as Shillong (Meghalaya), all have populations in excess of 100,000 people and account for significant proportions of their overall state populations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Himalayan Boom Town: Rural–Urban Transformations in Namchi, Sikkim

McDuie‐Ra¹,

Chettri²

2018

Development and Change

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Namchi, in the Indian state of Sikkim, is undergoing a building boom that is transforming a small district headquarters into an urban showpiece. Centred on religious theme parks and urban beautification, the boom captures Sikkim's emphasis on tourism as a development strategy. Growth in hydropower and pharmaceutical industries within the state, and infrastructure enabling this growth, seek to reduce dependency on the Indian government and have turned Sikkim into a 'backyard' for Indian capital. In contrast, Namchi epitomizes the transition from rural to urban space through tourismled growth, creating a 'front yard' exhibit which was recently awarded Smart City status despite its small size and relative unimportance. This article explores Namchi's boom by analysing the politics that drive it, the buildings and landscapes that capture its excess, and the town's lived urban spaces. The authors focus on three aspects of Namchi's boom: first, it is crucial for projections of success in Sikkim and aligns urban transformation with a particular vision of development actively promoted by the Chief Minister and ruling party; second, it is not based on resource extraction or agrarian expansion but on funds transferred to cultivate and reward loyalty in this border region; and third, it is drawing migrant workers to the town in large numbers, causing fissures and tensions, and simultaneously creating an emergent, though uneasy, cosmopolitanism.The authors would like to thank the editors and reviewers from Development and Change for their extremely helpful feedback and suggestions, Sangham Kumar Katel for research assistance, Niranjan Kapil for help with maps and urban planning policies in Sikkim, and the South Asia Institute at the University of Texas at Austin for inviting McDuie-Ra to share earlier versions of this work and receive feedback from a lively audience.Development and Change 49(6):

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Himalayan Boom Town: Rural–Urban Transformations in Namchi, Sikkim

McDuie‐Ra¹,

Chettri²

2018

Development and Change

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“…It generates a culture of fear that seeps into even normal sociality and affects civility. Even the capital city of Imphal in Manipur has an undeclared unofficial curfew and shops close down by 7 p.m., its vulnerable and dark streets devoid of civic life (McDuie-Ra, 2016). News reports document these incidents, and locals have adapted their life to this constrained political economy.…”

Section: Smoking Guns the Killing Fields And Bare Lifementioning

confidence: 99%

Citizens, the Smoking Guns of AFSPA and Bare Life in Northeast India

Arora

2020

Sociological Bulletin

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At the heart of ‘Indian nation-state making’ in the post-colonial context is dominant imagery and imaginary of Indian-ness, and there is an uncertain relationship between legitimate and illegitimate violence, and debate on integration and coercion of diverse nationalities in this state-nation. The ethnic nationalities of India’s Northeast have not been well integrated into the Indian imaginary and share a sense of belonging. Insurgency shapes the politics of this borderland and fuels secessionist aspirations and led to a demarcation of disturbed areas and exceptional citizens. Following Foucault and Agamben, I highlight the immense ‘unchecked’ sovereignty and biopolitical control of the Indian government to demarcate zones of democratic exception in Northeast India and enforce laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to perpetuate its domination, militarise and radically decide on matters of life. The law is draconian in its implications and I review some of the extant literature that reveals the ‘bare life’ enjoyed by some Indian citizens. Integrating ethnographic voices from Manipur, this paper deepens our critical perspective on the AFSPA to understand its fundamental impact on everyday life and routine violence in Manipur and the consequent emigration of its citizens.

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“… 1 The term “Northeast” is commonly used to describe the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. However, the internal borders and administrative lines of the region have been rearranged several times as a result of colonialism and more recently due to geopolitical disputes between India and its neighbors (Baruah, 2008; Karlsson, 2011; McDuie-Ra, 2016). Additionally, the term has been criticized by scholars and activists for obfuscating the complex history and cultural/ethnic diversity of this predominantly tribal, borderland region (McDuie-Ra, 2012; Subba and Wouters, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Climate and energy justice along the Brahmaputra river in Northeast India

Rampini

2021

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

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Recurrent summer floods along the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are a major challenge for the people and state governments of Northeast India. While riverine communities in the region rely upon a variety of adaptation strategies to live with these destructive floods, climate change is expected to further exacerbate this challenge, as melting Himalayan glaciers and changes in the South Asian monsoon lead to an increase in the frequency of severe floods. At the same time, a multitude of new dams are under construction in the Brahmaputra river basin, to meet India’s growing energy demands. Though these dams could provide flood protection for downstream communities, political and economic factors have led dam-builders to prioritize hydroelectricity generation over flood control. Furthermore, hydroelectricity generated along the Brahmaputra is “evacuated” to distant urban centers, while rural dwellers in Northeast India suffer from high levels of energy poverty. Using the Ranganadi Hydroelectric Project in Arunachal Pradesh as a case study, this paper examines how, by changing the flood regime and undermining current adaptive strategies, large dams along the Brahmaputra are testing the capacity of downstream communities to live with summer floods. This work highlights the ways in which poor and vulnerable communities in Northeast India are forced to bear the costs of both climate change impacts and decarbonization efforts.

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Borderland City in New India. Frontier to Gateway

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

Himalayan Boom Town: Rural–Urban Transformations in Namchi, Sikkim

Himalayan Boom Town: Rural–Urban Transformations in Namchi, Sikkim

Citizens, the Smoking Guns of AFSPA and Bare Life in Northeast India

Climate and energy justice along the Brahmaputra river in Northeast India

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