ABSTRACT
Despite the discrediting of communism after the end of the Cold War, Maoist insurgencies have grown in some parts of the world.2 An important dimension of these communist rebellions was the significant participation of indigenous groups. Why do indigenous groups participate in such avowedly class-based insurgencies? What are the consequences of participation on the trajectory of the insurgencies? I look at the insurgencies in Nepal, Peru, and India, the more successful and enduring Maoist insurgencies in the past several decades, to examine these questions more closely. Apart from the similarity of initial high ethnic participation, the three insurgencies developed varied relationships with the indigenous groups. Furthermore, the insurgencies’ trajectories also varied – from termination to eventually joining a government as an influential partner and eventually winning the post-conflict election. This chapter investigates the attitudes and policies of both the state and insurgencies towards indigenous groups in order to explain their varied participation in and resulting varied trajectories of the insurgencies. An investigation of the ethnic dimension of violent class-based rebellions is important for understanding the growth of Maoist insurgencies even in the changed circumstances of a post-Cold War world.
