Endurance and Ethical Considerations in the Everyday Within the Necropolitical Realms of Northeast India: An Examination Through Literature

Abstract

Political mobilization for homelands within the Northeast Indian context frequently culminates in the emergence of opposition and the creation of antagonistic ethnic militias by groups fearing marginalization. The state and security forces sometimes further provoke these militias, making political violence inevitable. This raises critical concerns about how ordinary people survive in these conflict-ridden ‘necro zones’. This study aims to elucidate resilience and survival strategies in the necropolitical landscapes of Northeast India, as depicted in contemporary literature. It focuses on how individuals and communities in conflict zones navigate life amidst violence, using Veena Das’s concept of ‘ordinary ethics’ to analyse the portrayal of human endurance in the select novels for study, Veio Pou’s Waiting for the Dust to Settle (2020) and Mitra Phukan’s The Collector’s Wife (2005). These narratives reveal the daily moral negotiations and relationships that underpin survival in such adversarial environments. The research underscores the role of literature in showcasing the interplay between systemic violence and the moral fabric of everyday life, arguing that ordinary experiences in these regions are profound sites for moral development and world-remaking in the face of necropolitical terror. © 2025 The Author(s). This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).