The world today is probably far more complex than ever before. Several waves of global migration of populations have reshaped or altered ethnic composition and cultural make up of nationstates. In effect, many mono-cultural nation states have turned multicultural, multi-linguistic, multi-ethnic and multi-religious. The formation of identity groups along overlapping axes of ethnicity, religion, language etc., and the ways in which various identities get structured, articulated, politicized and appropriated have given rise to tensions at multiple levels—socio-cultural, economic and political. Often, these tensions foster polarization of identity groups. At times, it leads to inter-group conflict and violence. Worse still, sometimes they become the ground for genocide as well as for routine, everyday oppression.
June 2015, volume 39, No 6