Gendered Power Transformations in India’s Northeast: Peace Politics in Nagaland

Citation:

Manchanda, Rita, and Seema Kakran. 2017. "Gendered Power Transformations in India’s Northeast: Peace Politics in Nagaland." Cultural Dynamics 29 (1-2): 63-82. 

Authors: Rita Manchanda, Seema Kakran

Abstract:

As the middle space for ‘post ceasefire-cold peace’ politics expanded in Nagaland in India’s Northeast, the Naga women’s question has emerged as symbolic of the intense social churning in traditional hierarchies around three sites of inequality: decision-making in the public sphere, patriarchal customary laws and property rights. The article tracks the shift in Naga women’s peace politics, from motherhood politics to asserting more equal modes of citizenship, and explores the emancipatory potential of Naga women’s emergence in the public sphere as key stakeholders in the peace process within a context of growing tensions in the relationship between gender and ethnicity.

Keywords: customary laws, ethnicity, gender, Naga, peace politics, power

Topics: Ethnicity, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Post-Conflict, Peace Processes, Rights, Property Rights Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2017