Demographic engineering: Population resettlement in the ethnoterritory of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

Chakma, Bhumitra

Abstract

Population resettlement in contested ethnoterritories is an old practice which states have pursued for centuries. A nascent theory of demographic engineering can be discerned to explain the phenomenon although a robust theory on the issue is yet to be built. Theorists generally agree that states transfer and resettle population to gain territorial control over contested ethnoterritories. But what is not clear in the current scholarship is how states accomplish this or what technics do they deploy to gain territorial control. To address this theoretical lacuna, it is asserted that states seek to gain territorial control in two ways: 'right peopling' (settlement of 'preferred people' to alter demographic balance of the contested area) and 'unpeopling' (extermination of the existing inhabitants). In this article these pathways to gain territorial control are explained by exploring the case of demographic engineering in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.

Citation

Chakma, B. (2025). Demographic engineering: Population resettlement in the ethnoterritory of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh. Modern Asian Studies, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X25000010

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 11, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 24, 2025
• Publication Date: 2025
• Deposit Date: Feb 10, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 24, 2025
• Journal: Modern Asian Studies
• Print ISSN: 0026-749X
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8099
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X25000010
• Keywords: demographic engineering; right peopling; unpeopling; Chittagong Hill Tracts; CHT accord
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/5039249