Certifications of citizenship: the history, politics and materiality of identity documents in South Asian states and diasporas

Chhotray, Vasudha and McConnell, Fiona (2018) Certifications of citizenship: the history, politics and materiality of identity documents in South Asian states and diasporas. Contemporary South Asia, 26 (2). pp. 111-126. ISSN 0958-4935

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Abstract

Experiences in the post-partition Indian subcontinent refute the conventional expectation that the 'possession of citizenship enables the acquisition of documents certifying it' (Jayal, 2013, 71). Instead, identity papers of various types play a vital part in certifying and authenticating claims to citizenship. This is particularly important in a context where the history of state formation, continuous migration flows and the rise of right-wing majoritarian politics has created an uncertain situation for individuals deemed to be on the ‘margins’ of the state. The papers that constitute this special issue bring together a range of disciplinary perspectives in order to investigate the history, politics and materiality of identity documents, and to dismantle citizenship as an absolute and fixed notion, seeking instead to theorise the very mutable ‘hierarchies’ and ‘degrees’ of citizenship. Collectively they offer a valuable lens onto how migrants, refugees and socio-economically marginal individuals negotiate their relationship with the state, both within South Asia and in South Asian diaspora communities. This introduction examines the wider context of the complex intersections between state-issued identity documents and the nature of citizenship and draws out cross-cutting themes across the papers in this collection.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	identity documents,citizenship,south asia,politics,materiality,diaspora,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Global Environmental Justice Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > The State, Governance and Conflict Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	25 May 2018 15:30
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 00:03
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/67190
DOI:	10.1080/09584935.2018.1471042

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