Synopses & Reviews
In the Shadows of the State suggests that well-meaning indigenous rights and development claims and interventions may misrepresent and hurt the very people they intend to help. It is a powerful critique based on extensive ethnographic research in Jharkhand, a state in eastern India officially created in 2000. While the realization of an independent Jharkhand was the culmination of many years of local, regional, and transnational activism for the rights of the regionandrsquo;s culturally autonomous indigenous people, Alpa Shah argues that the activism unintentionally further marginalized the regionandrsquo;s poorest people. Drawing on a decade of ethnographic research in Jharkhand, she follows the everyday lives of some of the poorest villagers as they chase away protected wild elephants, try to cut down the forests they allegedly live in harmony with, maintain a healthy skepticism about the revival of the indigenous governance system, and seek to avoid the initial spread of an armed revolution of Maoist guerrillas who claim to represent them. Juxtaposing these experiences with the accounts of the village elites and the rhetoric of the urban indigenous-rights activists, Shah reveals a class dimension to the indigenous-rights movement, one easily lost in the cultural-based identity politics that the movement produces. In the Shadows of the State brings together ethnographic and theoretical analyses to show that the local use of global discourses of indigeneity often reinforces a class system that harms the poorest people.
Review
andldquo;In the Shadows of the State is a fine and unusual study of indigenous politics, culture, and activism, which will be of interest to students of India as well as of the cultural politics of indigeneity elsewhere in the world. Alpa Shah provides a robust and non-sentimental ethnography of the realities and contradictions of tribal life, and a powerful critique of the practices of the state, NGOs, and the highly vocal middle-class activists who promote preservation of both natural resources and pristine tribal life.andrdquo;andmdash;Thomas Blom Hansen, co-editor of States of Imagination: Ethnographic Explorations of the Postcolonial State
Review
andldquo;Shah uses eight years of field experience among the Munda in the recently independent (2000) state of Jharkhand to demonstrate the limitations of identity politics in the liberation of the rural poor and marginalized in India. . . . Highly recommended. Most levels/libraries.andrdquo; - B. Tavakolian, Choice
Review
andldquo;[T]his is a well structured book in which the author highlights the need to pay attention to the voices that are not usually heard in the transnational and national forums which leads to their marginalization. This book presents a fine study of indigenous practices, culture and activism in Jharkhand and would be of great help to those scholars and students who really wants to understand the discourse on indigenous politics.andrdquo; - Nidhi Yadav, Indian Journal of Political Science
Review
andldquo;Throughout the book aspirations, desires, and frustrations are all expressed by respondents in ways that do not fit the ways tribal communities are viewed by many of their external supporters. This is uncomfortable territory for many scholars and activists, yet the author forces readers to rethink their own positions and the choices we all make in our work. This is an outstanding book of importance for its content and the challenges it sets out to its readers.andrdquo;
- Duncan McDuie-Ra, Asian Studies Review
Review
andldquo;
In the Shadows of the State is a simple, engaging, and beautifully written
book that makes a significant and original contribution to the global literature
on the politics and practice of indigeneity, and to the rich body of critical geographical and anthropological research on tribal life and politics in Jharkhand and eastern India. It should be required reading for all scholars and activists committed to resolving the awkward relationship between indigeneity and indigence.andrdquo; - Haripriya Rangan, Journal of Asian Studies
Review
andldquo;[A] brilliant ethnographyandhellip;. Shah has succeeded in bringing a place, its people and their social and political relations to life. It is a pleasure to read, and an example of the possibility of skillful and expressive writing immersed in the texture of everyday life to enhance academic analysis.andrdquo; - Colin McFarlane, Environment and Planning D, Society and Space
Review
and#8220;We Were Adivasis is a beautifully written book and a compelling readand#8212;it should make a significant impact on the established literature about adivasis in India, as well as address affirmative action and inequality issues not just locally, but also globally.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;We Were Adivasis is a shining ethnography that reveals new vistas for feminist studies, while casting fresh light on patterns of inequality and social mobility in India. This beautifully crafted study of poverty and progress will fascinate those interested in South Asia, gender and development, affirmative action, and the human capacity to aspire for a better life.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;In her ethnography of gendered aspirations, social mobility, andand#160;adivasi identity, Moodie reveals that Indiaandrsquo;s reservation projects exist inand#160;gendered ways. Using an intersectional analysis that explores the lives of one Rajasthani adivasi community, she brilliantly reveals how political, economic, and social contexts alter ideas of andlsquo;upliftandrsquo; while simultaneously constructing the dispositions of marginalized people through everyday practices.andrdquo;and#160;
Synopsis
"Presenting a sophisticated analysis of original empirical material based on sensitive long-term ethnographic fieldwork, Alpa Shah directly challenges existing frameworks in and beyond academic anthropology. She provides important new perspectives on indigenous governance, development, the anthropology of the state, corruption and local democracy, the politics of conservation, and environmental and Maoist movements. "In the Shadows of the State" demonstrates the value of critical ethnography; it is likely to be read as an exemplar."--David Mosse, author of "Cultivating Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice"
Synopsis
Focusing on the adivasi people of eastern India, this work explores how well-meaning indigenous rights and development discourses can further marginalize the people they claim to speak for.
Synopsis
An argument that well-meaning indigenous rights and development claims and interventions may misrepresent and hurt the very people they seek to help, based on extensive ethnographic research in eastern India.
Synopsis
In
We Were Adivasis, anthropologist Megan Moodie examines the Indian stateand#8217;s relationship to and#147;Scheduled Tribes,and#8221; or
adivasisand#151;historically oppressed groups that are now entitled to affirmative action quotas in educational and political institutions. Through a deep ethnography of the Dhanka in Jaipur, Moodie brings readers inside the creative imaginative work of these long-marginalized tribal communities. She shows how they must simultaneously affirm and refute their tribal status on a range of levels, from domestic interactions to historical representation, by relegating their status to the past: we
were adivasis.
Moodie takes readers to a diversity of settings, including households, tribal council meetings, and wedding festivals, to reveal the aspirations that are expressed in each. Crucially, she demonstrates how such aspiration and identity-building are strongly gendered, requiring different dispositions required of men and women in the pursuit of collective social uplift. The Dhanka strategy for occupying the role of adivasi in urban India comes at a cost: young women must relinquish dreams of education and employment in favor of community-sanctioned marriage and domestic life. Ultimately, We Were Adivasis explores how such groups negotiate their pasts to articulate different visions of a yet uncertain future in the increasingly liberalized world.
Synopsis
We Were Adivasis by anthropologist Megan Moodie examines the Indian stateand#8217;s relationship to and#147;Scheduled Tribes,and#8221; historically oppressed groups that are entitled to affirmative action benefits. The ethnography centers on the Dhanka of Jaipur. To prove that they are worthy of affirmative action benefits, the Dhankas must demonstrate that they are culturally and#147;tribal.and#8221; Yet they must simultaneously avoid the stigma of supposed tribal primitivity and militancy. Moodie explains that the Dhankas accomplish this precarious balancing act by asserting their identity in the past tense. The phrase and#147;we were Adivasisand#8221; is thus emblematic of their stance. As Moodie shows, women bear the heaviest burden for preserving cultural identity, and marrying and playing a supportive role in the home have become the main objectives for young women instead of education and employment. At the same time, women express deep ambivalence toward community uplift projects that favor collective aspirations over their own. Moodie offers timely reflections on the current debates over affirmative action, warning that as economic liberalization weakens the reservations system, groups like the Dhanka increasingly resort to political strategies that privilege community welfare at the expense of women.
About the Author
“In the Shadows of the State is a fine and unusual study of indigenous politics, culture, and activism, which will be of interest to students of India as well as of the cultural politics of indigeneity elsewhere in the world. Alpa Shah provides a robust and non-sentimental ethnography of the realities and contradictions of tribal life, and a powerful critique of the practices of the state, NGOs, and the highly vocal middle-class activists who promote preservation of both natural resources and pristine tribal life.”—Thomas Blom Hansen, co-editor of States of Imagination: Ethnographic Explorations of the Postcolonial State“In the Shadows of the State is an important, original, thoughtful, and beautifully written book. I have no doubt that it will be considered the single most important account we have of state-society relations in Jharkhand. It is also a remarkably erudite and properly critical account of the production and use of ‘indigeneity’ and ‘development’ as social constructions that can contribute to the domination of poor rural Jharkhandis. Its significance ranges far beyond India.”—Stuart Corbridge, co-author of Jharkhand: Environment, Development, Ethnicity“Alpa Shah’s book is an engaged and exceptionally lively account of the intersection between the ‘everyday state’ and the people of one of India’s most marginalized ‘Tribal’ areas. A major contribution to the regional literature, her sometimes counterintuitive, often sobering, but always compelling analysis richly deserves the attention of anyone interested in the politics of indigeneity and its uneasy relationship with class politics and with left-wing activism.”—Jonathan Parry, London School of Economics“Presenting a sophisticated analysis of original empirical material based on sensitive long-term ethnographic fieldwork, Alpa Shah directly challenges existing frameworks in and beyond academic anthropology. She provides important new perspectives on indigenous governance, development, the anthropology of the state, corruption and local democracy, the politics of conservation, and environmental and Maoist movements. In the Shadows of the State demonstrates the value of critical ethnography; it is likely to be read as an exemplar.”—David Mosse, author of Cultivating Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice“Presenting a sophisticated analysis of original empirical material based on sensitive long-term ethnographic fieldwork, Alpa Shah directly challenges existing frameworks in and beyond academic anthropology. She provides important new perspectives on indigenous governance, development, the anthropology of the state, corruption and local democracy, the politics of conservation, and environmental and Maoist movements. In the Shadows of the State demonstrates the value of critical ethnography; it is likely to be read as an exemplar.”—David Mosse, author of Cultivating Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Prologue 1
1. The Dark Side of Indigeneity 9
2. Not Just Ghosts: Democracy as Sacral Polity 36
3. Shadowy Practices: Development as Corruption 66
4. Dangerous Silhouettes: Elephants, Sacrifice, and Alcohol 99
5. Night Escape: Eco-incarceration, Purity, and Sex 130
6. The Terror Within: Revolution against the State? 162
Epilogue: Arcadian Spaces beyond the Shadows of the State 184
Glossary of Terms 191
Notes 193
Bibliography 237
Index 265