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 ongoing ethnographic work in Assam among the former insurgents of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) who have taken 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.

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.

Presented by the Center for South Asian Studies (CSAS), this event is part of the Ecologies of Care Lecture Series. Learn more about the series here: https://csas.ucsc.edu/2024-25-events/