Structural Bases of Social Movements in the

North-Eastern RegionB.S. BUTOLA

Presented By: Sameer Kumar Jena

Social Movements• Social movements is a trend and a process. • By which the People express their aspirations and

ideologies. • However, forms and contents of social movements

vary from situation to situation.

The North-eastern region of India comprising the seven sister states are one of the most sensitive regions of the country:• Its increasing strategic location at the interface of

diametrically opposite ideological regimes• Heterogeneous culture landscapes• Currents of civilization.• Multiplicity of culture• Economic life along with phenomenal intra-spatial variations

in the form of dense forest• High hills and valleys• Mighty barrier created by the river Brahmaputra• Frequent flood• Inadequate intra and inter regional linkage

Objective of the paper:To highlight the generic base and interconnecting linkages of social movements by differentiating the social movements on the basis of their form and content and also their logical interrelationships.

Preliminary stage of social Movements• When a phenomena attains a social dimension it becomes a

potential base for questioning the existing hegemony and building the counter hegemony which ultimately gets articulate through social unrest and need among the people to act more directly.

Models formulated for comprehending and taking appropriate remedial measures to check the spread of such movements

• Theory of relative deprivation (internal colonialism, peripheral and late capitalism)

• Theory of revitalization (nationality question, sub-nationalism)• Theory of strain(demographic aggression, foreign hand)• Theory of environmental condition(relative isolation,

environmental determinism)

Structural Bases of

Social Movemen

ts

Transition, Structural Adjustment and Social Movements

Primitive Social

Formation and Alien

Superstructure

States and Civil society

Transition, Structural Adjustment and Social Movements• Post-colonial countries are faced with the general problem of

transition in every walk of life.• The north-eastern region of India is the prime example of this

type.• This region was faced a secular transition: Tribal territory imperative National consciousness Lineage Bourgeois democratic state Subsistence economy High scale consumerism

• Most of the social movements in north-east are due to the centralist position taken by state while handling different problems.

States and Civil Society in the North-Eastern Region• Ruling state is the characteristic feature of modern

bourgeois rule.• But in case of North-eastern region of India: Civil society as well as the ideological apparatus of the

state are still in emerging stage. Ruling control of state still not a dominant form Where as only repressive organs of the state are becoming

stronger and more prevalent. Such development are potentially the basis of social

movement in the region.

Primitive Social Formation and Superimposed Alien Superstructure• Communal ownership of means of production and clan-

based division of labour was most prevalent in most of the north-east region.

• Division of society on the basis of economy was still in the initial stage of evolution.

• Imposition of Bourgeois democratic state and its associate with superstructure always find themselves incompatible.

• There was a void, lack of communication between base and superstructure.

Therefore• The modern state found itself irrelevant.• This was an important factor in spreading discontent among

masses and are vulnerable to different methods of its articulation including social movements.

Conclusion:State in north-eastern region of India is invariably the direct as well as the indirect reference point of all the social movements in the region.• All socio-economic changes taken in the region• Alien Superstructure imposed under British and

Independent India too.• Superimposed state has specialized in perfect the

repressive organs of the state which in turn has been resisted by masses gave rise to numerous social movements.

“Running water is never stale and door-hinge is never worm-eaten” means that constant motion prevents the inroads of germs and other organism.

Limitation: Not mentioned about the unrest within the Naga

community. Impact of wars:• World war II• Sino-Indian War(1962) Look-East policy (1991) Culture and Ethnicity disparities not mentioned

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