The Dialectics Discourse of Interculturality of Indigeneity, Race and Gender Unfolds for NE Women Living in the Indian Metropolitan Cities

The Indian metropolitan cities have reinforced the diversities of India in more ways than one; as it exhibits the cultural heterogeneity of the country but also its contestation of space and exclusion among the different social constructs in Indian society. As a result, when we analyse the everyday experiences of North East women who work in the metropolitan cities of India, the dialectics of interculturality. The NE region of India connects South Asia with South East Asia therefore the diversities is reflected in not only the social fabrics but also in the social attributes such as racial as well as in the gender roles where there’s less taboo associated with women working outside their domestic homes or in cities outside their home state, as most of them come from Indigenous communities. As a result, NE Women working in the metropolitan cities are a heterogeneous lot in itself with varied levels of skills and educational profile; working in diverse economic activities from private sector to the public sector. How diverse their profession may be but there’s a commonality in their experiences of racial differentiation that they face about the other’s perceptions and stereotyping them on account of their racial features which makes them vulnerable to discrimination leading even to racial abuse, hardships, deprivation and yet the Indigenous NE women navigates these dialectical discourse to find a room for themselves.

The paper seeks to explore the different narratives due to the dialectics of interculturality vis a vis the gender, race and culture unfolds when the indigenous NE women work in India’s metropolitan cities for their living.