PhD student in anthropology at Paris Nanterre University
Supervisors: Michèle Baussant (Institut des sciences sociales du politique) and Philippe Ramirez (CNRS-Centre for Himalayan Studies)
Title of thesis: the one who walks through walls : transformation, regulation and behaviours round the object wall, at the border with Meghalaya (India)
Abstract
The border between India and Bangladesh has been reinforced since 1989. The fence that encircles Bangladesh is the source of numerous social, cultural and economic transformations. Here, the aim is to determine how the wall, as an object, has reconfigured society within the transborder space. Ranging from the mode of construction, inspired by the anthropology of techniques, to lifestyle, notably through notions of uncertainty and danger generated by the wall, as well as the complexity of social interactions on transborder markets, it will be a question of studying the interferences that the fence produces among the Khasis in Meghalaya, who live on both sides of the border. Is the wall as an object capable of shaping a society to its own image?
Keywords : Khasi, wall, border, transborder markets, uncertitude, danger