The book highlights the problems faced by Northeast migrants in the cities they migrate. Set in the city of Delhi, the book brings into sharp relief how cultural and racial minorities managed their lives in a milieu where their identity is under constant interrogation and livelihood in a state of flux. Going beyond the ‘racial discrimination’ thesis that informs most works on the subject, it addresses issues of citizenship, ethnicity, gender, religion, role of the state, and the social bonding and disjunctures that take place when people of different cultures live in and share common space. This book is an important addition to the growing literature on India’s Northeast, exposing both the vulnerability and strength of a people long seen as the social and cultural ‘other’.

Based on the sociological perspective and policy analysis, the book should interest students of sociology, anthropology, social policy and lay readers alike.