'Currents and eddies': Indian-Middle East migration processes (original) (raw)
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IGNOU Conference on Diasporas and Development; Springer; forthcoming 2013
Understanding the economic development of many nations in the Global South can no longer be comprehensively charted without a focus on international labour migration and its associated socio-economic and spatial transformations. Interest in the issue has emerged in the range of work exploring transnational migration, yet the spatiality of transnational practices has tended to be overlooked in much of this literature, which has tended to focus more intently on social practices to the neglect of related spatial transformations. In this paper, I explore and contrast outmigration from two Indian states in order to identify the differences and similarities that emerge from international migration. In particular, I emphasize the way in which migration and the role of the NRI articulates with neoliberal restructuring processes already underway in India. I posit the figure of the migrant as one that is deeply articulated with modernity and neoliberal capitalism, but this intersection is differentiated by the geographical contexts they are embedded within. The migrant figure embodies a powerful influence that introduces new expectations and consumption patterns into the sending region, and this process occurs both in Kerala and Punjab, two Indian states with a long and active history of out-migration. Changes wrought by the migrant need to be understood as the outcome of specific sets of relations, but also as the product of the pressures of global, regional and national discourses of modernity, development and neoliberalism.
West Asia in Transition, 2015
This is a chapter published in 'West Asia in Transition', a task force report jointly published by IDSA and Delhi Policy Group, edited by Arundhati Ghose. It profiles Indians in the Gulf and discusses remittances and indigenisation policies. it further documents the impact this temporary employment-centric migration has had in India: increasing consumerism, local economy and higher education being geared to sustain and promote migration in larger numbers, increasing conservatism among the local population, etc. It also recommends study of non-Kerala origin Indian migrants to the Gulf as well as sociological/anthropological studies documenting the long-term impact of such migration on communities back home. This essay is based on a chapter titled 'Indian Migrants in the Gulf Countries' that I wrote for a 2013 IDSA publication: 'Developments in the Gulf Region: Prospects and Challenges for India in the Next Two Decades'. It includes an entirely new section on the impact of migration on India as well as updated information and recommendations.
Migration, Cultural Remittance, and the Social Landscape of Kerala
Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, 2022
The social landscape of Kerala—the southwest Indian state—has undergone significant changes in the last century. Migration has been a major factor impelling transformation in different sectors of Kerala society, thereby contributing to the overall development of the state. Among the major destinations of migration from Kerala, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries continued to be a unique space for more than one reason. Apart from historical and cultural links, the GCC countries have geopolitical as well as economic importance to India, and Kerala in particular. This has naturally attracted several migration-related scholarly investigations. There are several studies and reports pertaining to the impact of the Gulf migration on Kerala’s economy and society. Yet, the cultural impact of the remittance boom on Kerala—which started in the 1970s—has not been subjected to rigorous studies and analysis. Hence, this paper tries to deploy cultural remittance as a category of analysis for understanding the changing social landscape of Kerala—with the emergence of new cultural spaces held out by the Gulf-related songs, home cinema, films, religion, cuisine, dress styles, media, and the diaspora literature. The study mainly delves into the text and context of such cultural artefacts with a view to exploring the contours of ‘living Together’ in the ‘Gulf life-world’ in Kerala.
FROM THE VILLAGE TO THE CITY: THE CHANGING DYNAMICS OF MIGRATION IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA
This paper, while tracing the origins of a group of migrants to their roots in the villages of Bihar, analyses the rationale and the patterns of migration in contemporary India. The growth of rural to urban migration in India is a very significant phenomenon. An increase in migration is directly associated with the shift in the development paradigm in India and the move towards globalising trends. Changes in the capital flows, investments, commodities, and information have created new avenues for people to find economic engagement. The impact of information, communication and transportation is becomingly critical in facilitating regional development, which is highly relevant in the context of migration, as it facilitates and strengthens people’s movement, on one hand, while also enhancing their link with the origin areas, which are largely rural, on the other hand. The present paper analyses how the migrants, through their double location, have become part of a new information and knowledge world, which make them aware of a new and potential world of opportunities, welfare and entitlement. It, therefore, tries to delve deeper into the meanings and forms associated with the movement of people from their rural hinterland to life in the cities in contemporary India, and is based on a study conducted in six villages in the Samastipur district in Bihar, the origin of the migrants, and Delhi, their destination.
Internal Migration Certain Experiences from Kerala
In recent times, internal migration has intensified in different parts of the world. In tune with this, migration issues in Kerala have assumed different dimensions thanks to the inflow of a large number of migrants from the far away states like Assam and West Bengal. This has made Kerala a destination which attracts internal migrants besides being a state sending its own people to the Middle East and Europe. The large influx of migrants has caused precarious socioeconomic issues in Kerala society. At the same time, Kerala's dying productive sectors find resurrection only on the ride of the present wave of migrant workers to the State. Set in this background, this paper intends to look into these issues and try to bring out policy interventions by the government to improve the living conditions of migrant workers.