Rituals of Ethnicity: Thangmi Identities between Nepal and India

Miriam Wenner of the University of Zurich reviews Rituals of Ethnicity: Thangmi Identities between Nepal and India, by Sara Shneiderman. In this in-depth ethnography, Sara Shneiderman researches the construction of ethnic identity of the Thangmi, a transnational community whose members have historically been involved in circular migration across the national borders of Nepal, India, and Tibet. The book’s transnational framework and multi-sited approach allow Shneiderman to identify constructions of ethnicity as strongly influenced by, and based on experiences of, circular migration across national borders. By viewing these processes as embedded in broader historical processes of state formation, changes in national politics, and international discourses, it adds important insights to the study of transnational migration and border studies.

Read the book review at https://doi.org/10.1111/imre.12281