MAPPING INDIAN DIASPORA:: Contestations and Representations

Book Details

• Author: Ajaya K. Sahoo

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Binding: Hardcover

• Release Date: 01-08-2017

• Pages: 272

• Language: English

• ISBN: 9788131608975

About the Book
This book explores a crucial issue in the contemporary world—the Indian Diaspora—at a time when India is emerging as a global economic and geo-political powerhouse. With the Indian Diaspora now numbering around 28 million and having a significant presence in nearly every part of the world, it has cultivated a distinct identity that stands in contrast to other major diasporas like the Chinese and the Armenians.

The book highlights how the relationship of diasporic Indians with their homeland has deepened, aided by advances in communication technologies. Simultaneously, the Indian government has actively encouraged these linkages, fostering stronger ties between the diaspora and India in various ways. This volume will be of great interest to sociologists, as well as scholars in anthropology, political science, geography, history, literary, ethnic, and migration studies.

The book brings together an array of experts who provide a comprehensive view of the Indian Diaspora through various lenses, covering topics such as marriage patterns, citizenship, religion, politics, transnationality, identity formation, and more. The contributions offer rich insights into the ways the diaspora shapes and is shaped by cultural, social, and political forces, offering valuable perspectives for anyone studying migration and global Indian communities.

Contents

• Acknowledgements

• Contributors

• Introduction by Ajaya K. Sahoo

1. Marriage Patterns and Practices Among Young South Asian Americans – Karen Leonard

2. Citizenship and Nationality: The Dynamic ‘Home’ of Goan Catholics in Swindon, England – Joanna P. Coelho

3. Being in Kalapani: The Jahaji Bhai Aboard the Indian Emigrant Ship – Subhadeep Kumar

4. Religion and Politics in the Diaspora: The Case of Indians in Malaysia – Kishore Kumar Aleti

5. Transnationality: Enabling Individual Capabilities, Amplifying Diasporic Linkages, and Redefining Policy – Sridhar Bhagavatula

6. Tracing Transnational Networks in Amitav Ghosh’s In an Antique Land – Anindita Shome

7. Mapping Diaspora Engagement through Entrepreneurial Perspective: Issues and Challenges – Rakesh Ranjan

8. State Strategies of Differentiated Citizenship: India’s Diaspora Engagement Policy – Diksha Jha

9. Diaspora on the Margin: Contextualizing Partition Diaspora and Abdul Ghani Sheikh’s Two Nations, One Story – Angshuman Kar

10. Religious Fundamentalism and Indian Diaspora: M.G. Vassanji’s The Assassin’s Song – Arnab Kumar Sinha

11. A Search for Identity in Meena Alexander’s Raw Silk – Sanjoy Malik

12. Identity Formation or Corrosion: A Tale of Diasporic Conversion: Reading Shani Mootoo’s Cereus Blooms at Night (1996) and Ramabai Espinet’s The Swinging Bridge (2003) – Neetu Devi

• Index

About the Author
Ajaya Kumar Sahoo is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Study of Indian Diaspora, University of Hyderabad, India. His research interests are focused on the dynamics of the Indian Diaspora, and he has contributed extensively to the academic discourse surrounding this subject.