Abstract
Governing migration and migrants is a contentious process across the country, and it has become more problematic in politically sensitive states like Manipur. The police regularly conduct document checks of labour migrants in various localities of Manipur to verify and confirm their legal status, which leads to their social, economic and psychological insecurity. While this is a routine law-enforcement procedure considered necessary for ensuring security, the exercise has often resulted in harassment, exclusion and detention of migrant labourers in case they fail to prove their legal status. The surprise execution of such checks provides an opportunity for the police personnel to extort money from these poor migrants, thereby compounding their financial burden. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with labour migrants in Manipur, we find Inner Line Permit (ILP), and state surveillance are employed as tools for governing the ‘conduct’ of labour migrants in Manipur. To understand the phenomenon and experience, the paper draws on Foucault’s theorisation of ‘governmentality’. It examines the history, trajectory and significance of documents for labour migrants in the existing literature. Furthermore, it explores the power dynamics between state and labour migrants in Manipur to govern the ‘conduct’ of labour mobility through ILP and their legal status. The paper also highlights the negotiation and navigation strategies adopted by labour migrants to overcome regular state surveillance, detention and police harassment.
Published Version
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