Bengt G. Karlsson

Tidens Tecken ges ut en gång per år och erbjuder ett forum där samhälleliga och existentiella teman centrala för Svenska kyrkans verksamhet, vision och identitet belyses ur olika perspektiv. Vi lever i en tid präglad av förödande klimatförändringar, ökad polarisering och rekordstora flyktingströmmar. En växande krismedvetenhet sporrar visserligen till såväl innovationer som politisk handling men riskerar också hela tiden att övergå i uppgivenhet eller verklighetsflykt. I detta nummer utforskar författarna under temat Framtiden i samtiden hoppets och det utopiska tänkandets förändrade villkor i en tid där domedagsprofetiorna duggar tätt.

During the last decade, indigenous youth from Northeast India have migrated in large numbers to the main cities of metropolitan India to find work and study. This migration is facilitated by new work opportunities in the hospitality sector, mainly as service personnel in luxury hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and airlines. Prolonged armed conflicts, militarization, a stagnant economy, corrupt and ineffective governance structures, and the harsh conditions of subsistence agriculture in their home villages or small towns impel the youth to seek future prospects outside their home region. English language skills, a general cosmopolitan outlook as well as a non-Indian physical appearance have proven to be key assets in securing work within the new hospitality industry. Leaving the Land traces the migratory journeys of these youths and engage with their new lives in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram.

The questions that inspired this study are central to contemporary research within environmental anthropology, political ecology, and environmental history: How does the introduction of a modern, capitalist, resource regime affect the livelihood of indigenous peoples? Can sustainable resource management be achieved in a situation of radical commodification> of land and other aspects of nature? Focusing on conflicts relating to forest management, mining, and land rights, the author offers an insightful account of present-day challenges for indigenous people to accommodate aspirations for ethnic sovereignty and development.