Susan Banki, "The Ecosystem of Exile Politics: Why Proximity and Precarity Matter for Bhutan's Homeland Activists" (Cornell UP, 2024)

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Recorded14 Feb 2026

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The Ecosystem of Exile Politics: Why Proximity and Precarity Matter for Bhutan's Homeland Activists (Cornell UP, 2024), relays the events in Bhutan that led to the exodus of one-sixth of the population, and then recounts the activism by Bhutan's refugee diaspora that followed in response. Susan Banki asserts that activism functions like a physical ecosystem, in which hubs of activism in different locations interact to pressure the home country. For Bhutan’s refugee mobilizers, physical proximity offers advantages in Nepal and India, where organizing protests, lobbying, and collecting information about government abuse in Bhutan is aided by being close to the homeland. But in an ecosystem of exile politics, proximity is both a boon and a bane. Sites proximate to Bhutan can be spaces of risk and disempowerment, and refugee activists rarely secure legal, political, and social protection. While distant diasporas in the Global North may not be in precarious situations, they cannot tap into the advantages of proximity. In examining these phenomena, The Ecosystem of Exile Politics adds to theoretical understandings of exile politics and to empirical research on Bhutan and its refugee population. Susan Banki is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. She studies the political, institutional, and social contexts that explain the roots of and solutions to human rights violations and social justice abuses, with a specific focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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