The diasporic imaginary: Theorizing the Indian diaspora∗

At Home in Motion

“…This raises particular issues in terms of place and 'home' (Koshy 1994;Roy 1995;Brah 1996). It raises questions about the nature of diasporic experience and diasporic identity (Hall 1990;Mann 1993;Farred 1996;Mishra 1996), as well as about the significance of gender and national factors (Koshy 1994;Foster 1997;Bhatia 1998;Bracks 1998). A rich contemporary diasporic literature has evolved around various immigrant communities: for example, the Irish (McCafferey 1976;Akenson 1993); the Asian (Pan 1990;Lim 1997;Ma 1998) and the South Asian (Nelson 1992;Kachru 1996;Mishra 1996;Bhatia 1998).…”

The Indian Diaspora in North America: The Role of Networks and Associations

“…Like the people who inhabit the spaces designated by this term, it is 'a transient and travelled word' (Mishra, 1995). Initially the word was used to describe the Jewish 'dispersion' or 'scattering', but through the ages it had acquired different meanings.…”

Imagining Punjab and the Punjabi diaspora: after more than a century of Punjabi migration

“…Punjabi diasporas, marginalized within the larger discourse of diaspora studies, have begun to receive due attention within the newly formed field of Sikh and Punjab studies that largely focuses on Sikh tradition (McLeod 1989;Singh and Barrier 1996;Grewal 1998) but has also directed academic attention to the region and the communities originating there (Dusenbury 1999;Gilmartin 2004;Talbot and Thandi 2004;Talbot 2007;Nesbitt 2011). In his essay 'The Diasporic Imaginary', Brian Keith Axel contested the 'place of origin' thesis dominating diaspora studies by arguing that 'for many diasporic groups, place, or place of origin, is not the primary issue ' (2002, 411) citing the particular case of the Sikh diaspora and concluded that the 'imagined homeland' is the product of 'the diasporic imaginary' (Mishra 1996).…”