Indian Diaspora - Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

https://dspace.uohyd.ac.in/handle/1/68

Browse

Browsing Indian Diaspora - Publications by Author "Sangha, Dave"
  • Item
    Diaspora and cultural heritage: The case of Indians in Canada
    ( 2010-02-01) Sahoo, Ajaya Kumar ; Sangha, Dave
    The present paper examines the historical and contemporary context of Indian communities in Canada from a cultural heritage perspective and analyses the processes of migration, settlement and cultural identity. It also examines the challenges of developing museum exhibits which depict the Indian diaspora in Canada. Despite its colourful history and its growing size and prominence in Canadian society, the Indian diaspora has not been the subject of much interest by Canadian museums. While recognising the necessity of working with local communities and thereby reflecting local concerns, it is submitted that any museum exhibit attempting to portray the complex set of experiences of the Indian diaspora in Canada should include some portrayal of the highly marginalised position which the Indian community faced when it first established themselves in the early 1900s. In addition to this historical focus, any attempt to portray the contemporary Indian diaspora needs to portray its growing diversity and its efforts to maintain, and in many cases modify and 'hybridise', cultural practices. Such a display would also have to reflect the influence of transnational forces on the contemporary Indian diaspora. Ultimately, efforts by museums to develop exhibits reflecting the Indian presence in Canada will only further the aims of its widely praised state policy of multiculturalism. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.
  • Item
    From 'temporary migrants' to 'permanent residents': Indian H-1B visa holders in the United States
    ( 2010-11-01) Sahoo, Ajaya K. ; Sangha, Dave ; Kelly, Melissa
    Literature on international migration from India in the past has focused on the formation and development of 'Indian diasporas'; that is, Indians who have moved to various parts of the world and maintain socio-economic, cultural and political lives in India as well as other countries. However, little attention has been paid toward 'temporary migrants' who have migrated to different countries with a temporary visa and in the course of time extended their visas to become 'permanent residents'. Temporary migration from India has become a common trend over the last two decades, especially since the acceleration of globalisation and the developments in the fields of information and communication technologies. Although it is argued that this type of migration took place in the past - for instance, Indians migrated to British, French, Dutch and Portuguese colonies during the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries as indentured labourers for a period of three to five years and later extended their stays - what is new about the current trend is the new state policies of different host countries and the socio-economic and cultural background of the immigrants. This paper is an exploratory study of this contemporary phenomena of movement from 'temporary migrant' to 'permanent resident', a phenomena which has not been given much attention by academicians and policy makers in India. The present paper outlines this trend with an illustration of Indian H-1B visa holders in the United States. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.
  • Item
    Social work, spirituality, and diasporic communities: The case of the Sathya Sai Baba movement
    ( 2006-01-20) Sangha, Dave ; Sahoo, Ajaya Kumar
    The discourse surrounding the role of spirituality in social work practice has been expanding exponentially in recent years. Similarly, the discourse surrounding the role of spirituality among diasporic communities has expanded in recent times as well. In this paper, we will consider the linkages between social work, spirituality, and diaspora. We will focus our discussion on a particular diasporic spiritual community, the Sathya Sai Baba movement and its social service activities. We will then consider the implications of such spiritual movements for the social work profession. Among the key issues explored in this paper are the change in the social construction of populations that have moved between two countries as 'immigrant communities' to 'diasporic communities' and the implications of these changes for social work. Another critical issue we discuss is how working with spiritual movements may help address the 'spiritual deficit' concern that some social work academics have referred to, and indirectly at least, we begin to address 'the social work crisis' issue that has negatively affected the social work profession over the last few years. Copyright © by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.
  • Item
    Tracing an Indian diaspora: Contexts, memories, representations
    ( 2008-01-01) Raghuram, Parvati ; Sahoo, Ajaya Kumar ; Maharaj, Brij ; Sangha, Dave
    The concept of diaspora has been much debated during the past decade in terms of the essential and additional features that go with it, arguing which groups or communities could beuld not be designated as diaspora. The Indian diaspora today, with a strong community constituting more than 20 million and spreading across a hundred countries, continues to grow in size and making its transnational presence felt. This collection of essays traces some of the plurality with the Indian context as well as in the context of globalization, and transnationalism. The book discusses the migratory movements that have led to the formation of the Indian diaspora and formation to diasporic practices-the ways and means of remembering and enacting diasporic belonging and the sites and spaces where such narratives of belonging are performed and how these issues are played out through texts, and rituals such as pilgrimages and building temples.