This dissertation analyzes the cultural significance of land relations and caste/religious identity to understand political subjectivity in Punjab, Pakistan. The ethnography details the vicissitudes of a peasant land rights movement, Anjuman-e Mazarin Punjab (Punjab Tenants Association) that is struggling to retain land rights on vast agricultural farms controlled by the Pakistan army. The dissertation argues that land struggles should not only be understood in tropes of locality, but also as interconnected processes that attend to global and local changes in governance. To emphasize these connections, the dissertation gives a relational understanding of 'politics of place' that attends to a range of practices from the history of colonial infrastructure projects (the building of canals, roads and model villages) that transformed this agricultural frontier into the heart of British colonial administration. Similarly, the ethnographic chapters relate the history of 'place making' to the present day uncertainty for small tenant sharecroppers who defied the Pakistan Army's attempts to change land relations in the military farms. Within these parameters, this ethnographic study offers a "thick description" of Punjab Tenants Association to analyze the internal shifts in loyalties and alignments during the course of the protest movement by looking at how caste, religious and/or class relations gain or lose significance in the process. My research seeks to counter the predominant understanding of Muslim political subjectivity, which privileges religious beliefs over social practices and regional identity. Another aspect of my work elucidates the symbolic exchange between the infrastructural project of irrigation, railway construction and regional modernity in central Punjab. The network of canals, roads and railways transformed the semi-arid region of Indus Plains and created a unique relationship between the state and rural society in central Punjab. However, this close relationship between rural Punjab and state administration is not void of conflict but rather it indicates a complex sense of attachment and alienation, inclusion and exclusion from the state. / text

This dissertation examines the Sikh diaspora's role in the effort to carve a separate Sikh state--Khalistan--out of territory that presently constitutes the Indian Punjab. While many scholars note the involvement of overseas Sikhs in the Khalistan movement, the campaign for Sikh sovereignty has not been universally endorsed and a broad continuum of opinion exists within the diaspora regarding self-determination. Moreover, there have been various disputes regarding ideology and strategy even between pro-Khalistan factions that share the common goal of secession. Internecine conflict within the pro-Khalistan bloc has thus served to undermine its legitimacy within the larger diasporan Sikh community and in the international political arena. This raises the following inter-related questions that form the focus of this study: Why is the Khalistan coalition so weak, given its constituent members' consensus on the ultimate goal of secession? Why do pro-Khalistan groups that possess a common adversary (the Indian state) choose competition over cooperation given that the latter would be more expedient in realizing their political objectives? In addressing this, I draw upon the literature on exile politics and formulate a social movement type that I classify as a Separatist Diasporan Movement (SDM). I define an SDM as a coalition of political organizations comprising coethnics of migrant origin that: (1) sustains a strong attachment to their homeland, (2) maintains numerous networks among coethnics in other countries, and (3) seeks to create a separate homeland out of territory that forms part of an existing state because of real or imagined feelings of persecution. I further argue that because they lack institutionalized legitimacy and the instruments of state power, SDMs are intrinsically unstable entities whose authority is contested and re-contested from both within and without. In supporting my argument, I examine the rhetoric and political tactics employed by Khalistani groups in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. Data was obtained through fieldwork in the three countries, a variety of primary sources, and pro-Khalistan websites. My findings indicate that the schisms that emerged within the Khalistan SDM result from this absence of a unanimously-recognized authority and the persistence of conflicting pre-coalition identities. / text

1984’s Operation Blue Star, an Indian Army maneuver to rid the Sikh Golden Temple of militants, shocked the world. Bullet holes riddled the temple’s façade in the operation’s aftermath, and the global Sikh community was outraged at the desecration of the site. How did the political conflict in Punjab escalate to this point? What were the factors behind the Sikh militant movement, and how did the militants rationalize their activities, considered by some as rampant terrorism? This thesis examines the circumstances surrounding the rise to arms of the Punjabi Sikh militants and the religious influences of their movement. Identifying how themes of the Sikh past, particularly those of communal identity, martyrdom, and martial tradition, were repurposed and employed by militant Sikhs to ground their violence in Sikh tradition and practice, the thesis finds that leaders of the movement, like Sant Bhindranwale, created rhetorical bridges to the Sikh past and embedded in the community a sense of participating in a greater, cosmic war. There exists a tendency among scholars to overlook the religious elements of the movement in order to assign political, economic or sociological roots to the conflict, but religion was a primary factor in the conflict, as demonstrated through the words and actions of the militants themselves. This research adopts a sociotheological approach to religious studies, drawing upon framework by Mark Juergensmeyer, Émile Durkheim and Pierre Bourdieu, among others, to frame the influence of the Sikh past on the militants’ own plane of reference.

No description available.

Canadian politicians have stated that India-Canada relations are grounded in "people-to-people links". These links have been formed over the last century through a process of immigration that articulates specific regions of India—Doaba in Punjab—with particular regions of Canada—initially British Columbia, and now the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver. Employing the theoretical lens of transnationalism and a methodological approach based on networks, this thesis argues that the presence of extensive transnational linkages connecting immigrants to their sites of origin, rather than limit national Canadian citizenship practice, can actually enhance it. I examine how Punjabi immigrants activate linkages that span borders and fuse distant communities and localities, as well as highlighting how the state is involved in the regulation and monitoring of such connections. My findings indicate that the operation of state officials varies according to the nature of the exchange. Whereas immigration is differentially controlled at the micro-scale of the individual according to a range of factors such as race, class and gender; inanimate objects such as goods and capital are less regulated, despite the significant material effects associated with their transmission. Indian immigrants are not however, passive recipients of state regulation at the scale of the individual, and instead emerge as active participants in a Canadian democratic system that enables the individual to challenge certain bureaucratic decisions and hold federal departments accountable. In addition, contrary to ideas of transnational immigrant actors possessing new forms of transnational or "post-national" citizenship, this research suggests that immigrants value the traditional right of citizenship to protect national borders and determine who may gain access.

This thesis examines the political and social worldview of British and Indian royalty during the nineteenth century. Rather than viewing them as mere 'ornamental' figureheads, it seeks to highlight and scrutinise the ideas held by monarchs (sovereign or deposed) about empire and the role of royalty, as well as considering how their attempts at implementing such ideas can complicate existing narratives about the relative influence and authority of this group. Above all, this thesis breaks new ground by adopting a transnational approach in its study of such royal ideas and endeavours. Ruling dynasties, monarchs and courts have long been part of an interconnected, if rarefied, world encompassing Europe and Asia, though this is not adequately reflected in the historiography on the nineteenth century. This is despite the ironic fact that in that century, many royal houses were brought closer together than ever before, through the impact of growing global empires, and advancing communications and transportation networks. The first direct meetings between British and Indian royalty took place during this period, in the early 1850s, and are closely examined here. Based on a core case-study of the longstanding relationship between the Punjabi and British dynasties of Maharajah Ranjit Singh and Queen Victoria, and using a wide variety of textual and material sources, this thesis captures royal perspectives of their status and role in an evolving world, alongside considering how British and Indian royalty directly or indirectly influenced one another. This study effectively de-centres the British imperial official as the primary agent in Anglo-Indian elite encounters, and goes further to demonstrate that whether in the case of the connections between royal personages, or in the ties between ‘monarchy, nation and empire’, the capability for royal agency to shape the nature of such relationships evolved over time and was a consistently contested matter.

Canadian politicians have stated that India-Canada relations are grounded in "people-to-people links". These links have been formed over the last century through a process of immigration that articulates specific regions of India—Doaba in Punjab—with particular regions of Canada—initially British Columbia, and now the metropolitan areas of Toronto and Vancouver. Employing the theoretical lens of transnationalism and a methodological approach based on networks, this thesis argues that the presence of extensive transnational linkages connecting immigrants to their sites of origin, rather than limit national Canadian citizenship practice, can actually enhance it. I examine how Punjabi immigrants activate linkages that span borders and fuse distant communities and localities, as well as highlighting how the state is involved in the regulation and monitoring of such connections. My findings indicate that the operation of state officials varies according to the nature of the exchange. Whereas immigration is differentially controlled at the micro-scale of the individual according to a range of factors such as race, class and gender; inanimate objects such as goods and capital are less regulated, despite the significant material effects associated with their transmission. Indian immigrants are not however, passive recipients of state regulation at the scale of the individual, and instead emerge as active participants in a Canadian democratic system that enables the individual to challenge certain bureaucratic decisions and hold federal departments accountable. In addition, contrary to ideas of transnational immigrant actors possessing new forms of transnational or "post-national" citizenship, this research suggests that immigrants value the traditional right of citizenship to protect national borders and determine who may gain access. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

Dans les zones rurales du Pendjab du Pakistan, les femmes de petites familles agricoles ont un rôle énorme à jouer dans la réalisation du potentiel que le pays dispose dans le secteur de l'élevage d'animaux de se développer. L'étude présente la situation socio-économique actuelle des femmes éleveurs de bétail, l'étendue et la nature de leur participation aux activités de gestion du bétail, l'impact de la participation des femmes sur le bien-être de leurs familles, ainsi que les facteurs qui influent sur leur participation à des activités de gestion du bétail. Le type et la taille de la famille, l'âge, l'emplacement éloigné de l'intimé le village de la ville, et le niveau de développement global de la région ont eu leur impact sur les différents aspects de la situation des femmes rurales. Le niveau de participation des femmes répondant à des activités de gestion du bétail était multiple de celle du niveau de leurs maris. Les normes culturelles, division sexuelle du travail, la disponibilité de main-d'œuvre familiale et l'état physique du participant ont été trouvés plus opératoire pour déterminer la nature et le niveau de participation de la main-d'œuvre familiale dans les activités de gestion du bétail. L'amélioration du rôle des femmes dans la gestion et la production animale est essentielle pour améliorer la santé, l'éducation, le revenu et la nourriture de la famille. Les résultats illustrent la nécessité pour le ciblage géographique et l'importance d'utiliser une approche sexo-spécifique dans les programmes de développement agricole. / In rural Punjab of Pakistan, women from small farm families have a huge role to play in realizing the potential that the country has in livestock sector to flourish. The study presents the current socio-economic condition of women livestock raisers, the extent and nature of their participation in livestock management activities, the impact of women’s participation on their families’ welfare, and the factors affecting their participation in livestock management activities. The type and size of the family, respondent’s age, distant location of the village from the city, and the overall developmental status of the district had their impact on different aspects of rural women’s status. At each of the three geographical levels, women respondent’s participation level in livestock management activities was multiple of that of their husbands’ level. Cultural norms, gendered division of labor, availability of family labor, and the physical condition of the participant were found more operative in determining the nature and level of participation of the family labor in livestock management activities. Participation of the family labor, various aspects of women’s status, livestock related factors, and economic factors were the main causes identified as the factors affecting women’s participation in livestock management activities. Improving women's role in livestock management and production is essential in improving overall family’s health, education, income, and food security. The results signify the need for geographical targeting and the importance of using a gendered approach in the agricultural development programs.

In rural Punjab of Pakistan, women from small farm families have a huge role to play in realizing the potential that the country has in livestock sector to flourish. The study presents the current socio-economic condition of women livestock raisers, the extent and nature of their participation in livestock management activities, the impact of women's participation on their families' welfare, and the factors affecting their participation in livestock management activities. The type and size of the family, respondent's age, distant location of the village from the city, and the overall developmental status of the district had their impact on different aspects of rural women's status. At each of the three geographical levels, women respondent's participation level in livestock management activities was multiple of that of their husbands' level. Cultural norms, gendered division of labor, availability of family labor, and the physical condition of the participant were found more operative in determining the nature and level of participation of the family labor in livestock management activities. Participation of the family labor, various aspects of women's status, livestock related factors, and economic factors were the main causes identified as the factors affecting women's participation in livestock management activities. Improving women's role in livestock management and production is essential in improving overall family's health, education, income, and food security. The results signify the need for geographical targeting and the importance of using a gendered approach in the agricultural development programs.

當過去歷史透過電影重現，電影以特定的形式與內容重新編排將會使歷史有著不同意義，影響行動者認知及將某種行為成為可能。因此，探討電影如何再現歷史對閱聽人相當重要。 本研究探討影視文本如何再現歷史，以1984年印度黃金廟事件為例，採用《火柴》（Maachis,1996）、《阿畝》（Amu, 2005）及《旁遮普 1984》（Punjab 1984, 2014）三部電影為研究個案，取徑影視史學與民族寓言理論並透過文本分析法，探討三個面向：第一，電影拍攝時空環境與歷史事件時空環境兩者之間的辯證關係。第二，電影文本如何再現過去歷史並呈現其關鍵要點；第三，書寫歷史與影視歷史間呈現的關係。 研究發現，當歷史以影視文本再現時，呈現出以下幾個特點。第一，影視文本歷史再現關注現在。第二，影視文本歷史再現反映當代主流觀點。第三，以角色人物為主之民族寓言。第四，敘事安排製造懸疑感、凸顯關鍵要點。第五，影視文本歷史再現開啟換位思考。 / This study aims to analyze how films reproduced history by using Maachis, amu and Punjab 1984 as case studies which focus on the history of the “Golden Temple Incident of 1984” in India. The methodology of this study is based on concepts of historiophoty by Haden White and national allegory by Fredric Jameson. Textual analysis is adopted to explore three films for the following questions. First, what is the relevance between the filmic background and the historical incident? Second, how does the film text represent history and focus on key points? Third, what is the relationship between Historiography and Historiophoty? This study finds that, first, the historiophoty focuses on present situations. Second, historiophoty reflects the dominate perspectives in present time. Third, the films represent characters as the figures in national allegory. Fourth, arrangement of narrative creates suspenses and foregrounds crucial moments. Lastly, historiophoty opens the possibility for the audience to identify with characters in films.