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Browsing History - Publications by Author "Qureshi, Kaveri"
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ItemIndian Punjabi skilled migrants in Britain: Of brain drain and under-employment( 2013-01-01) Qureshi, Kaveri ; Varghese, V. J. ; Osella, FilippoPurpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the careers of skilled migrants from Indian Punjab. This study complicates the normalization of skilled migration as a "win-win" situation by examining the career trajectories of skilled migrants from the Indian Punjab who are trying to establish themselves in Britain. Design/methodology/approach: The paper examines 20 life history interviews undertaken with skilled migrants from the Indian Punjab to Britain, in IT, media, law and hospitality industries, health and welfare professionals, and student migrants. Findings: Skilled migrants were able to migrate on their own auspices through migration economies in Punjab. Once in Britain, however, they were directed to universities and labour markets in which they were not able to use their skills. They experienced under-employment, devaluation of their qualifications and downward mobility, which forced them into ethnic and gendered markets within their home networks and created ambivalence about migrant success and issues of return. Research limitations/implications: The study emphasizes the need to take a transnational lens when looking at skilled migration, address how migrants' career trajectories are limited by racism, anti-immigration sentiment and gender inequality, and consider temporality and uncertainty. Originality/value: The paper raises questions concerning the ways in which rapidly changing "managed migration" policies in Britain have burdened individual migrants. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
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ItemMigration, transnationalism, and ambivalence: The Punjab-United Kingdom linkage( 2012-01-01) Qureshi, Kaveri ; Varghese, V. J. ; Osella, Filippo ; Rajan, S. IrudayaThis chapter investigates developments in the Punjab-UK transnational space, a long-standing and extensive migration corridor. Within India’s diverse migration history, Punjab’s specificity is its particular historical connection with the UK, despite criss-crossing colonial and postcolonial migrations across the globe. We juxtapose field research in the UK and Punjab and show that transnationalism appears and works differently when viewed from either location-highlighting the differentially empowered nature of transnational space, as well as irresolvable ambivalences that are worked into transnational relationships. We reconsider the transnationalism paradigm through five interrelated arguments. We demonstrate the complexity of transnational space, which exceeds the binary sending-receiving country relationship that characterizes the literature. We find that transnationalism is not merely produced “from below” by the activities of migrants and diaspora, but is orchestrated and formalized by various arms of the Indian and British states. Moreover, illicit flows of people are also produced by the governance of migration. Transnational connectivity does not diminish individuals’ desire for a single, solid citizenship and nationality beyond the pragmatism attached with citizenship. Finally, we argue for historicizing of transnational networks and appreciation of the social relations of gender, generation, class, and caste by which they are cleaved.