Kashmir as a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Belonging across the Line of Control
by Antía Mato Bouzas, Willem van Schendel and Tina Harris
Amsterdam University Press, 2019 eISBN: 978-90-485-4399-1
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK *Kashmir as a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Belonging across the Line of Control* examines the Kashmir dispute from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and within the theoretical frame of border studies. It draws on the experiences of those living in these territories such as divided families, traders, cultural and social activists. Kashmir is a borderland, that is, a context for spatial transformations, where the resulting interactions can be read as a process of ‘becoming’ rather than of ‘being’. The analysis of this borderland shows how the conflict is manifested in territory, in specific locations with a geopolitical meaning, evidencing the discrepancy between ‘representation’ and the ‘living’. The author puts forward the concept of belonging as a useful category for investigating more inclusive political spaces.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY [Dr. Antía Mato Bouzas](https://www.zmo.de/Mitarbeiter/Mato%20Bouzas/cv_mato_bouzas_e.html) is a researcher at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin. Her research focus is on the politics of the South Asian region, with an interest on borders and citizenship. She currently works on a project funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation) on migration from north-eastern Pakistan to the Gulf.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of maps and figuresAcknowledgementsIntroduction Chapter 1 Kashmir: The Idea and its Parts Making the princely state: fixing borders and building a power centre in the Kashmir ValleyPartition and the importance of taking sides Territorial integrity and transformation of the border spaceConclusionChapter 2 Conceptualizing a Borderland Approach to Kashmir The borderland Border roads: the contours of making state space Violence, social diversity and fragmentationKashmir borderland as a distinct political spaceConclusion Chapter 3 The Urban Areas Near the LoC (I): The 'Kashmir Issue' in Srinagar and MuzaffarabadMilitarization of the urban Srinagar: the epicentre of conflictMuzaffarabad: the place of refuge and support of the Kashmir causeConclusionChapter 4 The Urban Areas Near the LoC (II): The 'Kashmir Issue' in Skardu and KargilThe specific position of Skardu as a non-Kashmiri and non-Pakistani locationKargil and the borders of the nationThe dispute from the border urban areas: a conclusionChapter 5 The Line... the People The opening of the LoCBorder immobilities: separation across Kargil (Ladakh) and BaltistanBorder work: normalizing the state spaceConclusionChapter 6 Belonging and the Politics of Belonging in the Kashmir Borderland The case of Ahmed Understanding belonging: space and identity Belonging across borders as claims to recognition Politics of belonging and world (b)ordering ConclusionAcronymsReferences Index
Kashmir as a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Belonging across the Line of Control
by Antía Mato Bouzas, Willem van Schendel and Tina Harris
Amsterdam University Press, 2019 eISBN: 978-90-485-4399-1
*Kashmir as a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Belonging across the Line of Control* examines the Kashmir dispute from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and within the theoretical frame of border studies. It draws on the experiences of those living in these territories such as divided families, traders, cultural and social activists. Kashmir is a borderland, that is, a context for spatial transformations, where the resulting interactions can be read as a process of ‘becoming’ rather than of ‘being’. The analysis of this borderland shows how the conflict is manifested in territory, in specific locations with a geopolitical meaning, evidencing the discrepancy between ‘representation’ and the ‘living’. The author puts forward the concept of belonging as a useful category for investigating more inclusive political spaces.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY [Dr. Antía Mato Bouzas](https://www.zmo.de/Mitarbeiter/Mato%20Bouzas/cv_mato_bouzas_e.html) is a researcher at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin. Her research focus is on the politics of the South Asian region, with an interest on borders and citizenship. She currently works on a project funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation) on migration from north-eastern Pakistan to the Gulf.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of maps and figuresAcknowledgementsIntroduction Chapter 1 Kashmir: The Idea and its Parts Making the princely state: fixing borders and building a power centre in the Kashmir ValleyPartition and the importance of taking sides Territorial integrity and transformation of the border spaceConclusionChapter 2 Conceptualizing a Borderland Approach to Kashmir The borderland Border roads: the contours of making state space Violence, social diversity and fragmentationKashmir borderland as a distinct political spaceConclusion Chapter 3 The Urban Areas Near the LoC (I): The 'Kashmir Issue' in Srinagar and MuzaffarabadMilitarization of the urban Srinagar: the epicentre of conflictMuzaffarabad: the place of refuge and support of the Kashmir causeConclusionChapter 4 The Urban Areas Near the LoC (II): The 'Kashmir Issue' in Skardu and KargilThe specific position of Skardu as a non-Kashmiri and non-Pakistani locationKargil and the borders of the nationThe dispute from the border urban areas: a conclusionChapter 5 The Line... the People The opening of the LoCBorder immobilities: separation across Kargil (Ladakh) and BaltistanBorder work: normalizing the state spaceConclusionChapter 6 Belonging and the Politics of Belonging in the Kashmir Borderland The case of Ahmed Understanding belonging: space and identity Belonging across borders as claims to recognition Politics of belonging and world (b)ordering ConclusionAcronymsReferences Index