Internationalism from the margins: Tracing geographies of Naga international imaginaries, 1946-2026

Internationalism is typically studied as an elite and institutional project; its history written from the viewpoint of either states or large multilateral organisations. What happens, however, when we re-orient our perspective and study internationalism from the vantage point of those at the interstate system’s margins? My interdisciplinary PhD thesis does precisely that by examining the international politics of the Naga Indigenous community in Northeast India. Nagas have campaigned for self-determination since 1947 when Naga leaders declared Naga independence from India. India has consistently forestalled these efforts by refusing to recognise Naga nationhood and asserting that the ‘Naga issue’ is a domestic Indian concern. In response, Naga actors have repeatedly made claims on and to ‘the international’ to legitimate demands for collective rights. My PhD investigated how Naga actors have conceived of alternative, internationally legible geopolitical projects for the protection of the Naga community from 1946 to 2022. I wrote a history of Naga intellectual thought during this period, exploring how Naga nationalist demands have been re-articulated at different points in response to shifting domestic and international conditions. I conducted archival research in Europe and India, analysis of Naga social media, and interviews with Naga human rights activists. I charted a shift in the nature of the Nagas' geopolitical claim, from mid-twentieth-century calls for Naga statehood, towards recent calls for Naga Indigenous self-determination outside the nation-state. The core of my argument is that internationalism has been integral to the construction of Naga national identities. I call for scholars to pay greater attention to the internationalist practices of Indigenous, minority, and stateless communities who are typically absent from histories of internationalism. My work shows how communities at the margins of the international order can tell us much about the so-called norms of inter-state politics, while offering important insights into the future of geopolitics. My work is extremely timely. In 2015, Naga leaders signed an historic accord with India establishing a framework for peace; amid conflicting proposals for the future Indo-Naga relationship, substantive negotiations have since stalled. Uncovering the historical lineage of Naga geopolitical ideas is vital to understanding these ongoing negotiations and, more broadly, for conceptualising the Nagas’ competing possible futures. The fellowship will maximise the impact of my PhD research for (1) Naga communities; (2) international human rights policy professionals; and (3) interdisciplinary social science scholars. I will: Conduct a research communication trip to Nagaland. Here, I will host a dissemination workshop with Naga human rights activists and present my findings to Naga publics via a lecture. Collaborate with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) to write a policy brief on Naga self-determination to be submitted to the UN. The briefing will draw from my PhD findings and the workshop described above. Submit two journal articles to leading geography and IR journals, and a proposal to LSE-press for an academic book based upon my thesis. These publications will establish my reputation as an expert on Indigenous, stateless, and minority communities’ international politics. I will also speak at two conferences. I will also engage in career development. I will: Write funding applications to the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust for future research comparing Naga international politics with those of other Southeast Asian Indigenous communities. I will also build interdisciplinary collaborations with other scholars studying Highland Asia at The Highland Institute (Kohima).