Samir Kumar Das is Professor of Political Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Previously, he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of North Bengal, West Bengal; Visiting Professor at Universite Paris 13 and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; and Adjunct Professor of Government at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He specializes in and writes on issues of ethnicity, migration, rights and democracy. Some of his prominent publications include India: Democracy and Violence (2015, edited); Governing India’s Northeast: Essays on Insurgency, Development and the Culture of Peace (2013); ICSSR Surveys and Explorations: Political Science: Volume I: Indian State (2013, edited); Conflict and Peace in India’s Northeast: The Role of Civil Society (2006); and Blisters on Their Feet: Tales of Internally Displaced Persons in India’s North East (2008, edited).

• Preface. Abbreviations. Introduction I. Transit Spaces 1. The Violent Gateway 2. The Moving City II. Unsettling Identities 3. Dangerous Journey to Citizenship 4. Living the ‘Absence’ III. Democratic Practices 5. Home, Homeland and Politics of the Unhomely 6. Democracy’s Unusual Sites. Glossary. Index

Samir Kumar Das is Professor of Political Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Previously, he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of North Bengal, West Bengal; Visiting Professor at Universite Paris 13 and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; and Adjunct Professor of Government at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He specializes in and writes on issues of ethnicity, migration, rights and democracy. Some of his prominent publications include India: Democracy and Violence (2015, edited); Governing India’s Northeast: Essays on Insurgency, Development and the Culture of Peace (2013); ICSSR Surveys and Explorations: Political Science: Volume I: Indian State (2013, edited); Conflict and Peace in India’s Northeast: The Role of Civil Society (2006); and Blisters on Their Feet: Tales of Internally Displaced Persons in India’s North East (2008, edited).

• Preface. Abbreviations. Introduction I. Transit Spaces 1. The Violent Gateway 2. The Moving City II. Unsettling Identities 3. Dangerous Journey to Citizenship 4. Living the ‘Absence’ III. Democratic Practices 5. Home, Homeland and Politics of the Unhomely 6. Democracy’s Unusual Sites. Glossary. Index

Samir Kumar Das is Professor of Political Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Previously, he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of North Bengal, West Bengal; Visiting Professor at Universite Paris 13 and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; and Adjunct Professor of Government at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. He specializes in and writes on issues of ethnicity, migration, rights and democracy. Some of his prominent publications include India: Democracy and Violence (2015, edited); Governing India’s Northeast: Essays on Insurgency, Development and the Culture of Peace (2013); ICSSR Surveys and Explorations: Political Science: Volume I: Indian State (2013, edited); Conflict and Peace in India’s Northeast: The Role of Civil Society (2006); and Blisters on Their Feet: Tales of Internally Displaced Persons in India’s North East (2008, edited).

• Preface. Abbreviations. Introduction I. Transit Spaces 1. The Violent Gateway 2. The Moving City II. Unsettling Identities 3. Dangerous Journey to Citizenship 4. Living the ‘Absence’ III. Democratic Practices 5. Home, Homeland and Politics of the Unhomely 6. Democracy’s Unusual Sites. Glossary. Index