Identity, Dispossession and Resilience of the Subaltern : A Study of Marginalized Communities in Kashmir

Khalid Wasim Hassan, Deepanshu Mohan, Ishfaq Ahmad Wani and Najam Us Saqib examine the processes of marginality and ‘othering’ which the subaltern groups in Kashmir face due to their attribution to a particular social caste, ethnicity, language or status of their citizenship. They further explore the sense of belonging and identity formation of the Pashtun community in the Kashmir Valley, India.

The book provides a balanced discussion on theoretical debates and empirical cases, with the introductory chapter providing an overview of the theoretical framework on identity and dispossession and its relationship to the processes of marginalisation. The other chapters discuss specific empirical cases that provide the theoretical underpinnings on relevant notions, such as caste, ethnicity, nationalism and identity politics. Through the empirical cases of the Sheikh community and Hanji community, the book sheds light on the prevailing caste system and caste-induced discrimination among Muslims. It also further explores the different forms of resilience as exercised by the subaltern groups in Kashmir, where many social groups and communities experience marginalisation and how some communities such as Tibetan Kashmiri Muslim, which lacked the state-defined citizenship status till recently, had led to the exclusion of this community from various socio-economic and political rights.

This is a comprehensive volume that will appeal to academics, scholars and policymakers in South Asian studies, social sciences and humanities, especially those interested in the study of caste, ethnicity, nationalism and identity politics for the marginalised communities in Kashmir.

Khalid Wasim Hassan is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics and Governance at Central University of Kashmir, India. He is currently a visiting research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities of the University of Edinburgh, UK, and has previously been a visiting research fellow at the University of Munster (2016), Germany, at South Asian Institute, SOAS (2017), at the University of Cambridge (2018) and at the Birkbeck, University of London (2020). His research focuses on political violence, gender and public spaces and subaltern communities in South Asia. His previous ethnographic works have been published in American Ethnologist, Third World Quarterly and the Routledge Handbook of Childhood and Development.

Deepanshu Mohan is Professor of Economics and Dean, IDEAS, Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, and Director, Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES) at O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), India. He is a visiting fellow at the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES), Oxford University, a visiting professor to the South East Asia Centre (SEAC) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an honorary research fellow with Birkbeck, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of London, since 2022. His previous visiting affiliations have included institutions such as the School of International Development, University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Canada), FGV (Rio, Brazil), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), Department of Economics, Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada), to name a few. His research interests include development studies, urban studies, comparative political economy, international economics and economic history. His previous books include Strongmen Saviours: A Political Economy of Populism in India, Turkey, Brazil and Russia; Vulnerable Communities in Neoliberal India; and Pan-India Stories of Informal Workers During Covid-19 Pandemic: Crisis Narratives.

Ishfaq Ahmad Wani is a senior research analyst at the Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES), O. P. Jindal Global University (JGU), India. His research interests include marginalisation, identity politics and tribal communities. His previous ethnographic works have been published in the Routledge South Asia Series (Vulnerable Communities in Neoliberal India).

Najam Us Saqib is a senior research analyst at the Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES), O. P. Jindal Global University (JGU), India. He also works on postcolonial caste politics and decolonising caste. His research interests include identity, caste and politics of marginalisation. His previous ethnographic works have been published in the Routledge South Asia Series (Contemporary Voice of Dalit and Vulnerable Communities in Neoliberal India).