Kashmir as a Borderland. The Politics of Space and Belonging across the Line of Control

Kashmir as a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Belonging across the Line of Control examines the Kashmir dispute from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and within the theoretical frame of border studies. It draws on the experiences of those living in these territories such as divided families, traders, cultural and social activists. Kashmir is a borderland, that is, a context for spatial transformations, where the resulting interactions can be read as a process of 'becoming' rather than of 'being'. The analysis of this borderland shows how the conflict is manifested in territory, in specific locations with a geopolitical meaning, evidencing the discrepancy between 'representation' and the 'living'. The author puts forward the concept of belonging as a useful category for investigating more inclusive political spaces.

Dr. Antía Mato Bouzas is a researcher at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin. Her research focus is on the politics of the South Asian region, with an interest on borders and citizenship. She currently works on a project funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation) on migration from north-eastern Pakistan to the Gulf.|Willem van Schendel, Professor of History, University of Amsterdam and International Institute of Social History, the Netherlands. He works with the history, anthropology and sociology of Asia. Recent works include A History of Bangladesh (2020), Embedding Agricultural Commodities (2017, ed.), The Camera as Witness (2015, with J. L. K. Pachuau). See uva.academia.edu/WillemVanSchendel.

List of maps and figures, Acknowledgements, Introduction, Chapter 1 Kashmir: The Idea and its Parts Making the princely state: fixing borders and building a power centre in the Kashmir Valley Partition and the importance of taking sides Territorial integrity and transformation of the border space Conclusion Chapter 2 Conceptualizing a Borderland Approach to Kashmir The borderland Border roads: the contours of making state space Violence, social diversity and fragmentation Kashmir borderland as a distinct political space Conclusion Chapter 3 The Urban Areas Near the LoC (I): The 'Kashmir Issue' in Srinagar and Muzaffarabad Militarization of the urban Srinagar: the epicentre of conflict Muzaffarabad: the place of refuge and support of the Kashmir cause Conclusion Chapter 4 The Urban Areas Near the LoC (II): The 'Kashmir Issue' in Skardu and Kargil The specific position of Skardu as a non-Kashmiri and non-Pakistani location Kargil and the borders of the nation The dispute from the border urban areas: a conclusion Chapter 5 The Line... the People The opening of the LoC Border immobilities: separation across Kargil (Ladakh) and Baltistan Border work: normalizing the state space Conclusion Chapter 6 Belonging and the Politics of Belonging in the Kashmir Borderland The case of Ahmed Understanding belonging: space and identity Belonging across borders as claims to recognition Politics of belonging and world (b)ordering, Conclusion Acronyms, References, Index.