Routledge Handbook of Indian Transnationalism

This bookintroduces readers to the many dimensions of historical and contemporary Indian transnationalism and the experiences of migrants and workers to reveal the structures of transnationalism and the ways in which Indian origin groups are affected.

The concept of crossing borders emerges as an important theme, along with the interweaving of life in geographic and web spaces. The authors draw from a variety of archives and intellectual perspectives in order to map the narratives of Indian transnationalism and analyse the interplay of culture and structures within transnational contexts. The topics covered range from the history of transnational networks, activism, identity, gender, politics, labour, policy, performance, literature and more. This collection presents a wide array of issues and debates which will reinvigorate discussions about Indian transnationalism.

This handbookwill be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers, and students interested in studying South Asia in general and the Indian diaspora in particular.

Introduction – Indian Transnationalism; PART I Migrant/Workers Lives; 1 Globality in Exceptional Spaces: Service Workers in India’s Transnational Economyi; 2 Skill Gap and Brain Drain for United States: Impact of Trump Executive Order on H1B and India; 3 From Students to Spouses: Gender and Labour in Indian Transnationalism; 4 Transnationalism and Return Migration of Scientists & Engineers from the United States to India; PART II On Culture and Identities; 5 Translocal Puja: The Relevance of Gift Exchange and Locality in Transnational Guyanese Hindu Communities; 6 Indian Music and Transnationalism; 7 Transnational Collaborations by Selected Contemporary Indian Dancers; 8 Revealing the Messiness of Transnational Identities: Second-generation South Asians in Canada; 9 Negotiating transnational identity among second generation Indian residents in Oman; PART III Political Engagement in Transnational Spaces; 10 Transnationalism and Indian/American Foreign Policy; 11 Constructing Hindu Identities in France and the United States: A Comparative Analysis; 12 Facing Strong Head Winds: Dalit Transnational Activism Today; PART IV Gender and Indian Transnationalism; 13 Experiences of Empowerment and Constraint: Narratives of Transnational Indian Women Entrepreneurs; 14 Indian Origin Women: Organising Against Apartheid; 15 Workers, families, and households: Towards a gendered, raced, and classed understanding of Indian transnationalism in Canada; 16 Is Migration a Ticket to Freedom? Exploring Sense of Freedom among Indian Women in Toronto; 17 Middling Tamil Migrant Workers and the Translocal Village in Singapore; PART V On Historic and Contemporary Networks in Transnational Spaces; 18 The Transnational Mobility of Indians in the time of the British Empire; 19 Layered Cities, Shared Histories: Gold, Mobility and Urbanity between Dubai and Malabar; 20 Emergence of Singapore as a Pivot for Indian Diasporic and Transnational Networks

Ajaya K. Sahoo teaches at the Centre for Study of Indian Diaspora, University of Hyderabad, India. His research interests include the Indian diaspora and transnationalism. He has co-edited the Routledge Handbook of the Indian Diaspora (2018), Indian Transnationalism Online (2014), Transnational Migrations: The Indian Diaspora (2009) and Tracing an Indian Diaspora: Contexts, Memories, Representations (2008). He is also the editor of South Asian Diaspora, also published by Routledge.

Bandana Purkayastha is Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut, USA. Her research interests are the intersections of gender/racism/class/age, transnationalism, violence and peace, and human rights. Her recent books are The Human Rights Enterprise: Political Sociology, State Power, and Social Movements (2015), Voices of Internally Displaced Persons in Kenya: A Human Rights Perspective (2015) and Human Trafficking (2018).