After Insurgency: Farming Journeys and Rehabilitation in Northeast India

Abstract: Since India’s independence in 1947, militarization, the extractive regime, and capital have significantly transformed the agrarian landscape in Northeast India. This talk is based on my ongoing ethnographic work in Assam among the former insurgents of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) taking up farming. Reclaiming the fields and the commons has been a mammoth task for communities and surrendered insurgents alike. In the absence of a state rehabilitation program, grassroots farming initiatives started by former ULFA insurgents in rural Assam allow them to reconnect with the community, earn a livelihood, and work with dignity. In doing so, insurgents and communities are paving the path for a sustainable ecosystem in the aftermath of insurgency.

Bio: Dixita Deka is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Program in Agrarian Studies at MacMillan Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Her research interests include insurgency in Northeast India, gender studies, and food cultures in the Eastern Himalayas.