South Asian politics have been increasingly dominated by ethnic movements seeking control over parts of existing national states, each in the name of their own distinct identity. The leaders of these movements justify their claims by asserting the moral right of their "nation" to its homeland. Although the government usually treats these separatist movements as divisive threats to domestic stability, the movements express their legitimacy with the rhetoric of cultural nationalism. However, this book presents sub-nationalism not as a culturally specific phenomenon but as a politically convenient self-classification, used as an instrument of identity, mobilization, power, and counter-hegemony by political actors. Drawing on detailed analyses of seven South Asian cases–Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, Assam, Tamilnadu, and Sri Lanka–the contributors move beyond sociological and economic explanations of the origin and evolution of South Asian nationalism to formulate a political explanation based on theories of cultural nationalism and collective action.
