Nasreen Chowdhory - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Nasreen Chowdhory
Journal of Borderlands Studies
Journal of Borderlands Studies
Postcoloniality and Forced Migration
Displacement, Belonging, and Migrant Agency in the Face of Power
Transitional Justice and Forced Migration, 2019
The present Sri Lankan state acclaims itself as a country that uprooted terrorism from its soil b... more The present Sri Lankan state acclaims itself as a country that uprooted terrorism from its soil by defeating the LTTE in the civil war in May 2009. This victory and consequent “peace” came at a significant human cost of destruction, displacement and loss of lives. The chapter asserts that idea of transitional justice in Sri Lanka needs to be mooted, especially in conjunction with the ground realities of the Sri Lankan society and state. In this relation, the chapter proposes that transitional justice in the postwar Sri Lanka will be incomplete without looking into the aspect of political agency of former female “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” (Tamil Elam Vitutalaip Pulikal) combatants during the conflict.
Gender, Identity and Migration in India, 2022
Gender, Identity and Migration in India, 2022
Social Change, 2022
Migration is broadly interpreted to mean the movement of people for accessing better life prospec... more Migration is broadly interpreted to mean the movement of people for accessing better life prospects. However, when we deconstruct this phenomenon of ‘movement of people’ to the ‘movement of single women’ this brings forth intricacies of gender equations which further problematises migration outcomes, when women struggle to navigate their space and negotiate with the gendered challenges of a new city. Nevertheless, it is this nature of migration which can be explored to evaluate the empowerment of women. In this context, the article argues that when women choose to migrate as independent individuals for accessing education and employment, they experience empowerment which is manifested in their exercise of choice, autonomy and freedom in a new city.
Deterritorialised Identity and Transborder Movement in South Asia, 2019
The book examines notions of deterritorialised identities emerging as a result of transborder mov... more The book examines notions of deterritorialised identities emerging as a result of transborder movements within South Asia. The book asserts that transborder movement in South Asia is not a new phenomenon. The South Asia region has the features of fluid borders, cultural commonalities with its neighbours making it a unique nature of the problem in the region. The four themes discussed in the book are first, transborder mobility, borders, and citizenship dilemmas; second, the everyday state and statelessness; third, the making and (un)making of borders; and fourth, the migration in South Asia. The chapters in the books attest to the notion that deterritorialised communities seek to challenge state sovereignty and further complicate the bureaucratic processes of the postcolonial state. The idea of containment appears to be the norms in most state, and justification emerges from state action, bordering, and varied citizenship laws that discriminate people within and outside the territorial boundaries of the state.
Refugees, Citizenship and Belonging in South Asia, 2018
Citizenship, Nationalism and Refugeehood of Rohingyas in Southern Asia, 2020
Refugees, like other transnational actors, such as aliens or migrants, challenge the prevalent no... more Refugees, like other transnational actors, such as aliens or migrants, challenge the prevalent norms of belonging based on citizenship established by the state. The membership rights of citizens are based on attributes such as birth, residence, and marriage that deliberately exclude non-citizens. In India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the state-formation processes after decolonisation shaped the nature of citizenship rights. The state allocated and legalised “belonging” by providing social, economic and political rights to the members and excluded certain categories of people. This paper examines the theoretical construction of state-formation and state-building in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India in relation to citizenship rights to understand how the non-inclusion of refugees as “citizens” of either their country of refuge or country of origin affects the decision to repatriate “home”.
Refugees, Citizenship and Belonging in South Asia, 2018
The chapter interrogates the consequences of nation-building projects of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh... more The chapter interrogates the consequences of nation-building projects of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, especially how state constructed boundaries of belonging and citizenship. Theoretically, the chapter illustrates the claims of asylum states that exclude the rights of non-nationals, especially refugees, and the politics of marginalization within refugees’ countries of origin create the conditions for refugee flow that are later replicated in their countries of asylum. The chapter asserts that the lack of recognition of the asylum state goes a long way towards marginalizing non-citizens on the basis of the politics of belonging, rooted in notions of membership in the nation-state.
Keeping the historical background in mind, I argue that despite the historical developments leadi... more Keeping the historical background in mind, I argue that despite the historical developments leading to the creation of Bangladesh, the distinctive nature of the state formation laid the foundation of the dominant majoritarian discourse that clearly prioritized the majority interest over minority groups, particularly the Chakma, and more specifically, the Chakmas in Chittagong Hill Tracts. The process of overt centralization and lack of accommodation of minority groups’ interest in the existing state–nation discourse stimulated the persecution of Chakma people in the CHT region, leading to conditions of refugee flow into India.
The chapter examines the unmaking of citizens of Rohingyas in Myanmar as a result of nation build... more The chapter examines the unmaking of citizens of Rohingyas in Myanmar as a result of nation building. The concept of citizenship is contested, and based on particularity of marking identities—language, religion and sex, and on the other hand, the universal notion of citizenship provides equality to all. But the prevalence of ascribed identity constitutes the basis of exclusion that includes and excludes (Chowdhory in Refugees, citizenship and belonging in South Asia contested terrains. Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore, pp. 43–69, 2018). The central idea is to unravel the religious identity vis-a-vis citizenship discourse, wherein the state marginalizes citizens on the basis of religion, by committing violence against minority communities. The minorities are carved as marginal citizens living on the periphery between the citizens and the non-citizens. In Myanmar, the process was enacted by the changing laws of Citizenship Act of 1982. The chapter interrogates the citizenship disc...
Deterritorialised Identity and Transborder Movement in South Asia, 2019
Citizenship as a concept has transcended to include from individual to group rights, which has be... more Citizenship as a concept has transcended to include from individual to group rights, which has been articulated as claims. Similarly, membership, has expanded to include various dimensions such as culture, legal and group, that stretched the ‘limits of democratic practices’ (Offe C, J Polit Philos 6(2):113–141, 1998) and institutions (Turner 2001). But, the issue of alienage has remained unresolved especially in the context to the idea of universal citizenship. It questions, the manner in which such boundaries are constructed on the basis of presumed ‘bounded citizenship’. The issue of alienage challenges citizenship on two levels: one, boundary or threshold citizenship and, two, internal question related to the universal idea of citizenship. Interestingly, the concept of citizenship has been stretched to accommodate some of the basic developments yet, it has remained individual focused, and the rights of aliens and migrants have remained in the periphery. Sassen S (Br J Sociol 51(1):143–159, 2000) and Soysal Y N (Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1994) discuss the issue of postnational citizenship from different perspectives. Sassen argues that postnational citizenship is more broad-based than the concept of denationalised citizenship, as state remains the point of interest, and citizenry rights evolve outside the state, while in denationalised citizenship rights remain within the domains of the state. The task of the chapter is twofold: first, to argue that camp for refugees is no longer exceptional, rather, it is an active political space for refugees to engage with ideas of belonging, and second, it is a place to assert claims of citizenship. Drawing from citizenship discourse, the paper assert that the right-based analysis has attempted to engage with noncitizens, and India is no exception to the rule.
Studies in Indian Politics, 2014
David N. Gellner, ed., Borderland Lives in Northern South Asia. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. 2014... more David N. Gellner, ed., Borderland Lives in Northern South Asia. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. 2014. 322 pages. ₹ 875.
Journal of Borderlands Studies
Journal of Borderlands Studies
Postcoloniality and Forced Migration
Displacement, Belonging, and Migrant Agency in the Face of Power
Transitional Justice and Forced Migration, 2019
The present Sri Lankan state acclaims itself as a country that uprooted terrorism from its soil b... more The present Sri Lankan state acclaims itself as a country that uprooted terrorism from its soil by defeating the LTTE in the civil war in May 2009. This victory and consequent “peace” came at a significant human cost of destruction, displacement and loss of lives. The chapter asserts that idea of transitional justice in Sri Lanka needs to be mooted, especially in conjunction with the ground realities of the Sri Lankan society and state. In this relation, the chapter proposes that transitional justice in the postwar Sri Lanka will be incomplete without looking into the aspect of political agency of former female “Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam” (Tamil Elam Vitutalaip Pulikal) combatants during the conflict.
Gender, Identity and Migration in India, 2022
Gender, Identity and Migration in India, 2022
Social Change, 2022
Migration is broadly interpreted to mean the movement of people for accessing better life prospec... more Migration is broadly interpreted to mean the movement of people for accessing better life prospects. However, when we deconstruct this phenomenon of ‘movement of people’ to the ‘movement of single women’ this brings forth intricacies of gender equations which further problematises migration outcomes, when women struggle to navigate their space and negotiate with the gendered challenges of a new city. Nevertheless, it is this nature of migration which can be explored to evaluate the empowerment of women. In this context, the article argues that when women choose to migrate as independent individuals for accessing education and employment, they experience empowerment which is manifested in their exercise of choice, autonomy and freedom in a new city.
Deterritorialised Identity and Transborder Movement in South Asia, 2019
The book examines notions of deterritorialised identities emerging as a result of transborder mov... more The book examines notions of deterritorialised identities emerging as a result of transborder movements within South Asia. The book asserts that transborder movement in South Asia is not a new phenomenon. The South Asia region has the features of fluid borders, cultural commonalities with its neighbours making it a unique nature of the problem in the region. The four themes discussed in the book are first, transborder mobility, borders, and citizenship dilemmas; second, the everyday state and statelessness; third, the making and (un)making of borders; and fourth, the migration in South Asia. The chapters in the books attest to the notion that deterritorialised communities seek to challenge state sovereignty and further complicate the bureaucratic processes of the postcolonial state. The idea of containment appears to be the norms in most state, and justification emerges from state action, bordering, and varied citizenship laws that discriminate people within and outside the territorial boundaries of the state.
Refugees, Citizenship and Belonging in South Asia, 2018
Citizenship, Nationalism and Refugeehood of Rohingyas in Southern Asia, 2020
Refugees, like other transnational actors, such as aliens or migrants, challenge the prevalent no... more Refugees, like other transnational actors, such as aliens or migrants, challenge the prevalent norms of belonging based on citizenship established by the state. The membership rights of citizens are based on attributes such as birth, residence, and marriage that deliberately exclude non-citizens. In India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the state-formation processes after decolonisation shaped the nature of citizenship rights. The state allocated and legalised “belonging” by providing social, economic and political rights to the members and excluded certain categories of people. This paper examines the theoretical construction of state-formation and state-building in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India in relation to citizenship rights to understand how the non-inclusion of refugees as “citizens” of either their country of refuge or country of origin affects the decision to repatriate “home”.
Refugees, Citizenship and Belonging in South Asia, 2018
The chapter interrogates the consequences of nation-building projects of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh... more The chapter interrogates the consequences of nation-building projects of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, especially how state constructed boundaries of belonging and citizenship. Theoretically, the chapter illustrates the claims of asylum states that exclude the rights of non-nationals, especially refugees, and the politics of marginalization within refugees’ countries of origin create the conditions for refugee flow that are later replicated in their countries of asylum. The chapter asserts that the lack of recognition of the asylum state goes a long way towards marginalizing non-citizens on the basis of the politics of belonging, rooted in notions of membership in the nation-state.
Keeping the historical background in mind, I argue that despite the historical developments leadi... more Keeping the historical background in mind, I argue that despite the historical developments leading to the creation of Bangladesh, the distinctive nature of the state formation laid the foundation of the dominant majoritarian discourse that clearly prioritized the majority interest over minority groups, particularly the Chakma, and more specifically, the Chakmas in Chittagong Hill Tracts. The process of overt centralization and lack of accommodation of minority groups’ interest in the existing state–nation discourse stimulated the persecution of Chakma people in the CHT region, leading to conditions of refugee flow into India.
The chapter examines the unmaking of citizens of Rohingyas in Myanmar as a result of nation build... more The chapter examines the unmaking of citizens of Rohingyas in Myanmar as a result of nation building. The concept of citizenship is contested, and based on particularity of marking identities—language, religion and sex, and on the other hand, the universal notion of citizenship provides equality to all. But the prevalence of ascribed identity constitutes the basis of exclusion that includes and excludes (Chowdhory in Refugees, citizenship and belonging in South Asia contested terrains. Springer Nature Singapore, Singapore, pp. 43–69, 2018). The central idea is to unravel the religious identity vis-a-vis citizenship discourse, wherein the state marginalizes citizens on the basis of religion, by committing violence against minority communities. The minorities are carved as marginal citizens living on the periphery between the citizens and the non-citizens. In Myanmar, the process was enacted by the changing laws of Citizenship Act of 1982. The chapter interrogates the citizenship disc...
Deterritorialised Identity and Transborder Movement in South Asia, 2019
Citizenship as a concept has transcended to include from individual to group rights, which has be... more Citizenship as a concept has transcended to include from individual to group rights, which has been articulated as claims. Similarly, membership, has expanded to include various dimensions such as culture, legal and group, that stretched the ‘limits of democratic practices’ (Offe C, J Polit Philos 6(2):113–141, 1998) and institutions (Turner 2001). But, the issue of alienage has remained unresolved especially in the context to the idea of universal citizenship. It questions, the manner in which such boundaries are constructed on the basis of presumed ‘bounded citizenship’. The issue of alienage challenges citizenship on two levels: one, boundary or threshold citizenship and, two, internal question related to the universal idea of citizenship. Interestingly, the concept of citizenship has been stretched to accommodate some of the basic developments yet, it has remained individual focused, and the rights of aliens and migrants have remained in the periphery. Sassen S (Br J Sociol 51(1):143–159, 2000) and Soysal Y N (Limits of Citizenship: Migrants and Postnational Membership in Europe. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1994) discuss the issue of postnational citizenship from different perspectives. Sassen argues that postnational citizenship is more broad-based than the concept of denationalised citizenship, as state remains the point of interest, and citizenry rights evolve outside the state, while in denationalised citizenship rights remain within the domains of the state. The task of the chapter is twofold: first, to argue that camp for refugees is no longer exceptional, rather, it is an active political space for refugees to engage with ideas of belonging, and second, it is a place to assert claims of citizenship. Drawing from citizenship discourse, the paper assert that the right-based analysis has attempted to engage with noncitizens, and India is no exception to the rule.
Studies in Indian Politics, 2014
David N. Gellner, ed., Borderland Lives in Northern South Asia. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. 2014... more David N. Gellner, ed., Borderland Lives in Northern South Asia. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. 2014. 322 pages. ₹ 875.