Beseiged by ethnic movements seeking the right of self-determination, South Asia is facing increasing instabilty and fragmentation. Drawing on detailed case studies of the most explosive areas in the region, this book moves beyond sociological and economic explanations of the origins of South Asian subnationalism to formulate a political explanation based on theories of cultural nationalism and collective action. South Asian politics have been increasingly dominated by ethnic movements seeking control over parts of existing national states, each in the name of their own distinct identity. The leaders of these movements justify their claims by asserting the moral right of their nation to its homeland. Although the government usually treats these separatist movements as divisive threats to domestic stability, the movements express their legitimacy with the rhetoric of cultural nationalism.However, this book presents subnationalism not as a culturally specific phenomenon but as a politically convenient self-classification, used as an instrument of identity, mobilization, power, and counter-hegemony by political actors.
Drawing on detailed analyses of seven South Asian casesKashmir, Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Assam, Tamilnadu, and Sri Lankathe contributors move beyond sociological and economic explanations of the origin and evolution of South Asian subnationalism to formulate a political explanation based on theories of cultural nationalism and collective action.
- ISBN10 0813320933
- ISBN13 9780813320939
- Publish Date 26 September 1996
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 October 2009
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
- Imprint Westview Press Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 272
- Language English