BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//pretalx//pretalx.com//wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026//talk//FATG9R
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:KST
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20000101T000000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=1
TZNAME:KST
TZOFFSETFROM:+0900
TZOFFSETTO:+0900
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:pretalx-wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026-FATG9R@pretalx.com
DTSTART;TZID=KST:20260627T135500
DTEND;TZID=KST:20260627T141500
DESCRIPTION:Abstract (250 words)\nThe Indo-Myanmar frontier\, historically 
 a porous cultural and commercial corridor\, has undergone profound transfo
 rmation in the contemporary era often described as “post-globalization.
 ” While global connectivity has widened through digital communication an
 d transnational economic flows\, physical borders in South Asia have simul
 taneously hardened due to intensifying geopolitical anxieties\, ethnic con
 flicts\, and strategic rivalries. This presentation draws on oral historie
 s collected from Naga\, Mizo\, and Kuki-Chin communities to examine how bo
 rderland residents interpret and experience these shifts. For generations\
 , these communities engaged in free and routine movement across what is no
 w India and Myanmar\, sustaining kinship networks\, barter trade\, shared 
 festivals\, and ritual landscapes that predated modern territorial boundar
 ies. Their narratives reveal a layered interplay between memory and geopol
 itics: recollections of shared ancestry and seasonal migration coexist wit
 h lived realities of fencing projects\, militarized checkpoints\, refugee 
 flows from post-coup Myanmar\, and restrictions on traditional livelihoods
 . These testimonies capture both loss and adaptation\, illustrating how lo
 ng-standing cultural continuities persist amid new forms of surveillance a
 nd securitization.\nBy foregrounding lived experiences\, the presentation 
 highlights how global disconnections—driven by political instability\, C
 hina’s growing strategic presence\, insurgency dynamics\, and India’s 
 evolving border governance—shape everyday life in the frontier. Ultimate
 ly\, it argues that oral histories not only illuminate the human dimension
 s of geopolitical transformation but also challenge mainstream state-centr
 ic narratives of borders\, sovereignty\, and globalization’s uneven retr
 eat in Northeast India. Through memory\, border communities offer alternat
 ive understandings of mobility\, belonging\, and regional interconnectedne
 ss in a world where borders simultaneously close and global influences dee
 pen.
DTSTAMP:20260412T140531Z
LOCATION:Room 208 (Seats 40)
SUMMARY:Border Memories in an Age of Global Disconnection: Oral Histories f
 rom India’s Northeast and the Geopolitics of the Indo-Myanmar Frontier -
  Dr Nikhil Kumar
URL:https://pretalx.com/wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026/talk/FATG9R/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR