Distributed for Zubaan Books
Women, Peace and Security in Northeast India
In recent decades, the states in the northeast of India have been home to a number of protracted violent conflicts. And while the role of women’s movements in responding to conflict and violence tend to be marginalized both by the media and by scholarship, they have played a crucial role in attempts to strengthen civil society and bring peace to the region. This collection offers a close look at the successes and failures of those efforts, adding important insight into ongoing debates on gender and political change in societies affected by conflict. At the same time, the book takes a fresh, critical look at universalist feminist and interventionist biases that have tended to see peace processes as windows of opportunity for women’s empowerment while ignoring the complexity of gender relations during conflict.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction: Women, Peace and Security in Northeast India
Åshild Kolås
Chapter 1
Women’s Rights and Empowerment: The Indian Context
Priyankar Upadhyaya
Chapter 2
Debating Empowerment: The 73rd Amendment in Assam
Arunima Deka
Chapter 3
Contested Space of Democracy in Assam: Women’s Agency for Change
Dolly Phukon
Chapter 4
Demobilized, Dispossessed … Disappeared?
In Search of ULFA’s Female Ex-combatants
Rakhee Kalita Moral
Chapter 5
Gendered Citizenship and Representation: Women’s Contributions to Peacebuilding in Naga Society
Anungla Aier
Chapter 6
Gendered Power Systems and Peace Politics in Nagaland
Rita Manchanda and Seema Kakran
Chapter 7
Meira Paibis: Forms of Activism and Representation of Women in Manipur
L. Basanti Devi
Chapter 8
Reimagining the Protesting Mother: Counter-narratives of Women as Citizens
Roma Dey
About the Editor and Contributors
Introduction: Women, Peace and Security in Northeast India
Åshild Kolås
Chapter 1
Women’s Rights and Empowerment: The Indian Context
Priyankar Upadhyaya
Chapter 2
Debating Empowerment: The 73rd Amendment in Assam
Arunima Deka
Chapter 3
Contested Space of Democracy in Assam: Women’s Agency for Change
Dolly Phukon
Chapter 4
Demobilized, Dispossessed … Disappeared?
In Search of ULFA’s Female Ex-combatants
Rakhee Kalita Moral
Chapter 5
Gendered Citizenship and Representation: Women’s Contributions to Peacebuilding in Naga Society
Anungla Aier
Chapter 6
Gendered Power Systems and Peace Politics in Nagaland
Rita Manchanda and Seema Kakran
Chapter 7
Meira Paibis: Forms of Activism and Representation of Women in Manipur
L. Basanti Devi
Chapter 8
Reimagining the Protesting Mother: Counter-narratives of Women as Citizens
Roma Dey
About the Editor and Contributors