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The contributors from various social science disciplines discuss the modes of ethnic construction in the eastern and north-east region of India. They argue that there are forces in the liberal democratic order that exploit and alienate the downtrodden who are denied access to resources and opportunities, being ‘lower castes’, ‘minorities’ and ‘subaltern classes’. Stating that growing deprivation and exploitation finds articulation in caste, community and ethnic movements, they examine the failings of such movements, such as their making political alignments with the mainstream political parties by which the leaders and the elite in the groups benefit even as the real issues of the community are ignored. They focus on the movement for a separate state of Kosal (Odisha), identity formation among Rajbangshis and Adivasis (Assam-Bengal), and the Rabha ethnic movement (Assam). A paper deals with the ethnic consciousness among the Hindus and the Muslims in Ahmedabad after the Gujarat riots.