The South Asian Diaspora: Transnational networks and changing identities / Edition 1

by Rajesh Rai, Peter Reeves

Overview

The South Asian Diaspora numbers just under 30 million people worldwide, and it is recognized as the most widely dispersed diaspora. It is, moreover, one which of late has seen phenomenal growth, both due to natural increase and the result of a continued movement of professionals and labourers in the late 20^th and early 21^st century from the subcontinent to countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Singapore.

This book uses the concept of transnational networks as a means to understand the South Asian diaspora. Taking into account diverse aspects of formation and development, the concept breaks down the artificial boundaries that have been dominating the literature between the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ era of migration. Thereby the continued connectedness of most historic South Asian settlements is shown, and the fluid nature of South Asian identities is explored.

Offering a unique and original insight into the South Asian diaspora, this book will be of interest to academics working in the field of South Asian Studies, Diaspora and Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Transnationalism and Globalisation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415456913
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/22/2008
Series:	Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series , #10
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rajesh Rai is Assistant Professor at the South Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore. His research interests are in the fields of diaspora studies and transnational identities, nationalism and the post-colonial history and politics of South Asia. He is assistant editor of The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora (2006), and has published several articles on various aspects of the South Asian Diaspora particularly in Southeast Asia.

Peter Reeves, Emeritus Professor of South Asian History at Curtin University (Perth, Western Australia), was Visiting Professor and Head of the South Asian Studies Programme (SASP) at the National University of Singapore from 1999 to 2006. His research interests include the history of the South Asian diaspora, the history of fisheries in colonial South Asia and the maritime history of the Indian Ocean since 1800. He was executive editor of The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora (2006).

Table of Contents

Introduction Part 1: Transnational Networks 1. Ethnicity, locality and circulation in two diasporic merchant networks from South Asia 2. The social world of Gujarati merchants and their Indian Ocean networks in the seventeenth century 3. Subaltern networks in a colonial diaspora: a study of Indian migrants and Mauritius 4. An entrepreneurial diaspora? Transnational space and India’s international economic expansion Part 2: Socio-economic Identities & Change 5. Indians in Southeast Asia: migrant labour, knowledge workers and the new India 6. Indo-Fijians: roots and routes 7. From Bharat to Sri Ram Desh: the emigration of Indian indentured labourers to Suriname 8. Sociological reflections on the diasporic Bangladeshis in Singapore and USA Part 3: Culture & Changing Diasporic Identities 9. The attrition and survival of minor South Asian languages in Singapore 10. Forging kinship with food: the experience of South Indians in Malaysia 11. Bhai Maharaj Singh and the making of a ‘model minority’: Sikhs in Singapore 12. ‘The familiar temporariness’: Naipaul, diaspora and the literary imagination: a personal narrative

Editorial Reviews

"The diversity of the South Asian diaspora allows for it to be studied from many different perspectives and this volume reflects a variety of interests." - William Crawley, Asian Affairs, 2010

"This wide-ranging volume on the South Asian diaspora makes an important contribution to the historical sociology of transnational migration...This collection takes us beyond the commonplace in its detailed and contextualized analysis of transnational networks...The collection also stands out for its emphasis on Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, which have been neglected amid the larger body of literature on the South Asian diaspora in Europe and North America." - Kaveri Harriss, Pacific Affairs: Volume 82, No. 4 - Winter 2009/2010

"[T]his volume edited by Rajesh Rai and Peter Reeves is a welcome addition to the study of ethnography in general and the diaspora in particular. Scholarly works of this nature will be immensely invaluable in the coming years as the transnational movement of people contributes to change in both the host lands and the countries of origin." - Mohammed Badrul Alam, Jamia Millia Islamia University, India; Contemporary South Asia, Vol. 19, No. 1, March 2011

From the Publisher