Preet K Virdi | John Jay College of Criminal Justice (original) (raw)

Papers by Preet K Virdi

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers to Canadian justice: immigrant Sikh women and<i>izzat</i>

South Asian Diaspora, Mar 1, 2013

The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called... more The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called ‘honour killings’ of Muslim and Punjabi-Sikh women. Drawing on qualitative socio-legal research, this paper examines the gendered significance of izzat in mediating both private and public spaces in the everyday lives of five immigrant Punjabi-Sikh women. Within the corporate family structure, Punjabi-Sikh women contribute to the continued regulation of other Punjabi-Sikh women by upholding patriarchal conceptions of izzat. Transplanted understandings of Indian law and society, coupled with Punjabi-Sikh understandings of izzat, shape these women's cultural and legal consciousness, as well as the perceived role of Canadian law. As such, the cultural importance and complexities of izzat reveal how it constrains the five women in this study from accessing the Canadian legal system with regard to personal and family problems except in violent, life-threatening circumstances.

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora as a Spectrum

McGill-Queen's University Press eBooks, Sep 30, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Marriage / breakdown amongst Punjabi-Sikhs in Canada : a legal ethnography of disputants, (un)official forums, and access to family justice in Ontario, Canada

When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awardi... more When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination.

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora as a Spectrum

Relation and Resistance, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers to Canadian justice: immigrant Sikh women andizzat

South Asian Diaspora, 2013

The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called... more The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called ‘honour killings’ of Muslim and Punjabi-Sikh women. Drawing on qualitative socio-legal research, this paper examines the gendered significance of izzat in mediating both private and public spaces in the everyday lives of five immigrant Punjabi-Sikh women. Within the corporate family structure, Punjabi-Sikh women contribute to the continued regulation of other Punjabi-Sikh women by upholding patriarchal conceptions of izzat. Transplanted understandings of Indian law and society, coupled with Punjabi-Sikh understandings of izzat, shape these women's cultural and legal consciousness, as well as the perceived role of Canadian law. As such, the cultural importance and complexities of izzat reveal how it constrains the five women in this study from accessing the Canadian legal system with regard to personal and family problems except in violent, life-threatening circumstances.

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers to Canadian justice: immigrant Sikh women and izzat

The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called... more The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called ‘honour killings’ of Muslim and Punjabi-Sikh women. Drawing on qualitative socio-legal research, this paper examines the gendered significance of izzat in mediating both private and public spaces in the everyday lives of five immigrant Punjabi-Sikh women. Within the corporate family structure, Punjabi-Sikh women contribute to the continued regulation of other Punjabi-Sikh women by upholding patriarchal conceptions of izzat. Transplanted understandings of Indian law and society, coupled with Punjabi-Sikh understandings of izzat, shape these women’s cultural and legal consciousness, as well as the perceived role of Canadian law. As such, the cultural importance and complexities of izzat reveal how it constrains the five women in this study from accessing the Canadian legal system with regard to personal and family problems except in violent, life-threatening circumstances.

Drafts by Preet K Virdi

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora as a Spectrum: Punjabi-Sikh Subjects and the Gendered Context of Diaspora Membership

The shift away from population group (i.e. South Asian) and toward subjects (i.e. the model immig... more The shift away from population group (i.e. South Asian) and toward subjects (i.e. the model immigrant) is one possible pathway to the careful study of the context of diaspora. In this chapter, I argue that the context of the Punjabi-Sikh diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a spectrum of variegated memberships and self-perceptions of belonging that are inherently gendered. In my ethnographic research on transnational marriages and their breakdown, I discern three discrete yet overlapping subjectivities: the model immigrant and the multicultural citizen; the transnational competitive migrant; and, finally, the trans-local and sovereign subject. Through this spectrum of diaspora membership, I conduct a close analysis of gendered subjectivities in relation to their corresponding configurations of power in marriage and its breakdown. First, I provide overviews of the fieldwork, data, and subject groups the chapter is based on, and then I proceed to discuss local and transnational understandings of marriage and marriage breakdown. Then I discuss the spectrum of diaspora membership, addressing marriage and its breakdown in relation to the three above-mentioned groupings respectively.

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers to Canadian justice: immigrant Sikh women and<i>izzat</i>

South Asian Diaspora, Mar 1, 2013

The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called... more The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called ‘honour killings’ of Muslim and Punjabi-Sikh women. Drawing on qualitative socio-legal research, this paper examines the gendered significance of izzat in mediating both private and public spaces in the everyday lives of five immigrant Punjabi-Sikh women. Within the corporate family structure, Punjabi-Sikh women contribute to the continued regulation of other Punjabi-Sikh women by upholding patriarchal conceptions of izzat. Transplanted understandings of Indian law and society, coupled with Punjabi-Sikh understandings of izzat, shape these women's cultural and legal consciousness, as well as the perceived role of Canadian law. As such, the cultural importance and complexities of izzat reveal how it constrains the five women in this study from accessing the Canadian legal system with regard to personal and family problems except in violent, life-threatening circumstances.

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora as a Spectrum

McGill-Queen's University Press eBooks, Sep 30, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Marriage / breakdown amongst Punjabi-Sikhs in Canada : a legal ethnography of disputants, (un)official forums, and access to family justice in Ontario, Canada

When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awardi... more When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination.

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora as a Spectrum

Relation and Resistance, 2021

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers to Canadian justice: immigrant Sikh women andizzat

South Asian Diaspora, 2013

The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called... more The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called ‘honour killings’ of Muslim and Punjabi-Sikh women. Drawing on qualitative socio-legal research, this paper examines the gendered significance of izzat in mediating both private and public spaces in the everyday lives of five immigrant Punjabi-Sikh women. Within the corporate family structure, Punjabi-Sikh women contribute to the continued regulation of other Punjabi-Sikh women by upholding patriarchal conceptions of izzat. Transplanted understandings of Indian law and society, coupled with Punjabi-Sikh understandings of izzat, shape these women's cultural and legal consciousness, as well as the perceived role of Canadian law. As such, the cultural importance and complexities of izzat reveal how it constrains the five women in this study from accessing the Canadian legal system with regard to personal and family problems except in violent, life-threatening circumstances.

Research paper thumbnail of Barriers to Canadian justice: immigrant Sikh women and izzat

The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called... more The concept of honour has been superficially understood in recent media coverage of the so-called ‘honour killings’ of Muslim and Punjabi-Sikh women. Drawing on qualitative socio-legal research, this paper examines the gendered significance of izzat in mediating both private and public spaces in the everyday lives of five immigrant Punjabi-Sikh women. Within the corporate family structure, Punjabi-Sikh women contribute to the continued regulation of other Punjabi-Sikh women by upholding patriarchal conceptions of izzat. Transplanted understandings of Indian law and society, coupled with Punjabi-Sikh understandings of izzat, shape these women’s cultural and legal consciousness, as well as the perceived role of Canadian law. As such, the cultural importance and complexities of izzat reveal how it constrains the five women in this study from accessing the Canadian legal system with regard to personal and family problems except in violent, life-threatening circumstances.

Research paper thumbnail of Diaspora as a Spectrum: Punjabi-Sikh Subjects and the Gendered Context of Diaspora Membership

The shift away from population group (i.e. South Asian) and toward subjects (i.e. the model immig... more The shift away from population group (i.e. South Asian) and toward subjects (i.e. the model immigrant) is one possible pathway to the careful study of the context of diaspora. In this chapter, I argue that the context of the Punjabi-Sikh diaspora in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a spectrum of variegated memberships and self-perceptions of belonging that are inherently gendered. In my ethnographic research on transnational marriages and their breakdown, I discern three discrete yet overlapping subjectivities: the model immigrant and the multicultural citizen; the transnational competitive migrant; and, finally, the trans-local and sovereign subject. Through this spectrum of diaspora membership, I conduct a close analysis of gendered subjectivities in relation to their corresponding configurations of power in marriage and its breakdown. First, I provide overviews of the fieldwork, data, and subject groups the chapter is based on, and then I proceed to discuss local and transnational understandings of marriage and marriage breakdown. Then I discuss the spectrum of diaspora membership, addressing marriage and its breakdown in relation to the three above-mentioned groupings respectively.