Papers selected in the volume were presented in a seminar entitled Dynamics of Tribal Villages in Arunachal Pradesh: Emerging Realities. These papers have focused on one or the other aspect of village life in tribal villages of Arunachal Pradesh and obviously have made a departure from earlier studies on Indian villages as peasant communities in which villages were studied with a view to understand the ‘nature’ of the villages and dimensions of Indian civilization. Such studies were comprehensive explorations for an understanding of village communities as ‘isolates’ or ‘part societies’. But the essence of the present volume lies in focusing attention on the nature of various aspects of village life, which independently reflects upon an integrative appreciation. Whether any aspect of life in tribal villages has intra- or inter-village functional significance, the characteristic feature that it displays is ‘embeddedness’. A phenomenon like labour exchange, for example, does not exist in economic sphere of the activities; it rather embodies characteristics of cultural and social realities. Broadly, the strength of this volume emanates from the study of 20 villages of 12 tribes in the state mostly by scholars belonging to the village and the tribe itself. Undoubtedly, emphasising on emic perceptions of the transition realities, it has made a radical departure. Therefore, the volume will add a new dimension to village studies.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR M C Behera
M.C. Behera (b. 1959), M.A., Ph.D. (Economics) from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, is an erudite scholar on Tribal Studies and Rural Economics. He has authored/edited/co-edited several volumes on socio-cultural, economic (especially on agriculture and religious life) of tribal people. To his credit, he has about fifty research papers on national and international topics published in various national and international journals/periodicals. He has presented about thirty papers in national and international seminars/conferences in the country and abroad. He has completed four projects sponsored by ICSSR, New Delhi; UGC, New Delhi; KVIC, Arunachal Pradesh and UNESCO-IGNCA, New Delhi. He is a member of many professional bodies and the General Secretary of The Centre for Research and Analysis on North-Eastern Societies (CRANES), Itanagar. Presently, he is working as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Tribal Studies, Arunachal University, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tamo Mibang
Tamo Mibang (b. 1955) is now Pro-Vice Chancellor, Arunachal University. He was Head in the Department of Tribal Studies and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences of Arunachal University from April 1997 to May 2000. He obtained his Masters Degree in History from Gauhati University in 1977 and Ph.D. from Dibrugarh University in 1988. He has authored Social Change in Arunachal Pradesh (The Minyongs) and Adi doying and co-authored An Introduction to Adi Language and Indian Folk Tales in North-East India. Besides, he has co-edited two volumes entitled Arunachal Women and Education and Ethno Medicines of the Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh. He has, to his credit, numerous articles on the tribal life of Arunachal Pradesh. He is an Executive Member in many National, Regional and State Level Bodies. His area of interest is regional history and tribal development of North-East India.
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