
Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging
The Heraka Movement in Northeast India
Arkotong Longkumer(Author)
Continuum Publishing Corporation
Published on 5. January 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
274 pages
978-1-4411-9694-1 (ISBN)
Description
Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging focuses on the Heraka, a religious reform movement, and its impact on the Zeme, a Naga tribe, in the North Cachar Hills of Assam, India. Drawing upon critical studies of 'religion', cultural/ethnic identity, and nationalism, archival research in both India and Britain, and fieldwork in Assam, the book initiates new grounds for understanding the evolving notions of 'reform' and 'identity' in the emergence of a Heraka 'religion'. Arkotong Longkumer argues that 'reform' and 'identity' are dynamically inter-related and linked to the revitalisation and negotiation of both 'tradition' legitimising indigeneity, and 'change' legitimising reform. The results have deepened, yet challenged, not only prevailing views of the Western construction of the category 'religion' but also understandings of how marginalised communities use collective historical imagination to inspire self-identification through the discourse of religion. In conclusion, this book argues for a re-evaluation of the way in which multi-religious traditions interact to reshape identities and belongings.
Reviews / Votes
"This is a compelling and unusual book, written from the inside (by a Naga) and the outside (by a skilled anthropologist). It is a valuable addition both theoretically and ethnographically to a rich literature on the Nagas and to the rapidly expanding field of comparative religion. It is beautifully written and gradually reveals an extraordinary world with great sensitivity." (Professor Alan Macfarlane, F.B.A., Emeritus Professor of Anthropological Science and Fellow of King's College, Cambridge.)"More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
15
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
421 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4411-9694-1 (9781441196941)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Arkotong Longkumer
Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging
The Heraka Movement in Northeast India
E-Book
11/2011
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Continuum
€42.99
Available for download

Arkotong Longkumer
Reform, Identity and Narratives of Belonging
The Heraka Movement in Northeast India
E-Book
03/2010
1st Edition
Continuum Publishing Corporation
€42.99
Available for download
Person
Dr Arkotong Longkumer is Visiting Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Content
1. Introduction; 2. Circling the Alter Stone: Bhuban Cave and the Symbolism of Religious Traditions; 3. Millenarianism and Refashioning the Social Fabric; 4. Changing Cosmology and the Process of Reform; 5. Negotiating Boundaries; 6. Community Imaginings and the Ideal of Heguangram; 7. Conclusion; Bibliography; Appendices.