Abstract

 The role of the church and the Young Mizo Association (YMA) in Mizo society has immense implications in the socio-politico-cultural domain. These two social entities came into being at the post-colonial stage after the transition to a nation-state. Furthermore, both entities are functionally active to date. There are no localities and spaces where their influences are absent; they dictate all the norms and mores of Mizo society. Even the so-called state is at the mercy of these two entities, though they are non-state actors; nevertheless, it is through them that power gets manifested. Both entities are disciplinary institutions, where individuals of society are moulded into docile subjects through its various disciplinary machineries. Their influence traverses through the everydayness of each individual in the Mizo society. This paper attempts to critically analyse the dynamics of power in Mizo society through these two entities, look at how the discourse pertaining to power is limited within them, and how a sovereign agency beyond them becomes unimaginable.

Keywords: Church, YMA, Power, Agency