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Kunal Mukherjee. 2019. Conflict in India and China’s Contested Borderlands: A Comparative Study.

Document Cited in Related
AuthorLeoni Connah
DOI10.1177/2347797020962705
Published date01 December 2020
Date01 December 2020
Book Reviews 395
Kunal Mukherjee. 2019. Conflict in India and China’s Contested
Borderlands: A Comparative Study. Routledge. 178 pp. ISBN:
9780367025731.
DOI: 10.1177/2347797020962705
The aim of Kunal Mukherjee’s recent book is evident in its title; to compare
the contested borderland regions of India and China. The main argument of the
book is despite the fact that the two countries have differing political systems,
the nature of the problems in their contested borderlands and the way the central
governments have dealt with them are strikingly similar. Therefore, the author
presents a reasonable rationale for conducting a comparative study.
It is a relatively short book of 178 pages and its target audience is ‘not intended
for the specialist in Asian politics and society’ (p. 2), rather it is aimed at a general
audience. In the opening pages, Mukherjee details his original, and admirable,
bottom-up methodology. Utilising his language skills, Mukherjee has carried out
extensive interviews with local residents of each conflict zone along the Sino-Indian
border. This is ordinarily not the case in security studies and international relations,
as other works focus on a top-down approach interviewing the political elite.
The book consists of an introductory chapter, seven main chapters and a
concluding chapter. Structurally, each chapter has a similar outline and has a clear
conclusion, ensuring that each chapter can be read in isolation as a standalone
piece. This is useful for students in particular or for those who are interested in a
specific case study, rather than reading all of them. However, compartmentalisation
of the different borderlands has its downsides as it is easy to lose sight of Mukherjee’s
main arguments and how the respective conflicts relate. The theoretical grounding
of the book is rather broad as it draws on numerous concepts and ideas, including
the New Wars thesis, nationalism thesis and ethnic conflict thesis. Nonetheless, the
author analyses each theoretical framework and justifies their inclusion as they
push towards a clearer understanding of the complexities of each conflict.
Certain chapters appear to be stronger than others. For example, Chapter 3:
The Case of Tibet and Tibetan Nationalism is a well-thought through and thorough
exploration into the roles played by ethnic nationalism and more interestingly
religion. A detailed discussion of ethnic nationalism can be found between pages
89 and 91. Further, the ‘syncretic fusion between Indian Buddhism and the native
Bon tradition of Tibet’ (p. 61) provides an explanatory account of Tibet’s diverse
society. The chapter on Tibet seemed to be stronger and better articulated than the
chapter on Xinjiang. The chapter on Xinjiang would benefit from further
explanation into the human rights situation as it is only one paragraph in length.
Similarly, Chapter 5: The Conflict in the Indian Northeast appears more thorough
than Chapter 4: Insurgency in Kashmir. This is not to say that the latter is without
merits, with Mukherjee providing a clear and concise summary of the Hindu–
Muslim relationship. He says ‘the Hindu–Muslim story is one of both peaceful
coexistence and conflict; it is a story of collaboration and friendship as well as
discord and animosity’ (p. 101). This portrays the unique situation that Hindu’s
and Muslims find themselves in Kashmir. The author also provides a good analysis

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