Explicating Ethnic Identity of the Khasi in North-East India through the Lens of the Identity Process Theory

Abstract

Ethnic assertion dominates contemporary social and political discourses among the Khasi—a matrilineal tribe in the north-eastern state of Meghalaya, India. The matrilineal system in Khasi society provides the context for understanding ethnic identity and gender relations. This paper utilizes the theoretical framework of identity process theory (IPT) to understand and explain ethnic identification of the Khasi. Newspaper discourses on Khasi society and identity are subjected to critical discourse analysis. The corpus for the present study comprises articles from newspapers—regional, national and overseas that informs about Khasi people and their collective life. The paper not only examines the representation of the Khasi in newspaper discourses, but motivational principles of identity, twin processes of assimilation–accommodation and evaluation postulated in IPT are discussed in the light of their identity. Finally, the adequacy of IPT to explain identity threat among the Khasi is also looked at.