Redefining Tribal Identity: The Changing Identity of the Santhals of South-West Bengal seeks to explore the evolution of Santhal ethnic identity, taking into account the changes that the Santhals have undergone in their mental and material world as a result of the impact of the forces of modernization — both during the colonial as well as the post-colonial periods. The major events of Santhal history, like the Santhal Hool (1855), the Jharkhand movement and Santhal participation in the Indian National Movement have been focused upon in this book to explore the changing notions of Santhal ethnic identity including the twists and turns in the process of their identity assertion. The demand for the Constitutional recognition of the Santhali language, their separate religion as well as for a territory of their own in the post-Independence period, are all part of their changed mode of identity assertion.
This study tries to cover almost all the debates, from different perspectives, that have raged about the tribal world in recent times. As such the book will be of use to college and university students studying Sociology, Anthropology, History and other branches of Social Science. Researchers and planners may also find this work useful as it attempts to map the way in which ethnic movements in India can move in future.