Who Is a Migrant? Understanding Migrant’s Identity in a North Indian Industrial Setting

Abstract

The question of ‘identity’ is being questioned and debated in modern social theory. One way of life is giving one identity and another way of life is giving another identity, which leads to the identity crisis. The formation and transformation of identity is really a matter of concern and introspection in today’s world. As Mercer (1990, Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, 43–71, London: Lawrence & Wishart), observes ‘Identity only becomes an issue when it is in crisis, when something assumed to be fixed, coherent and stable is displaced by the experience of doubt and uncertainty’. The identities of a migrant and to identify who is a migrant are to be answered and analysed in different contexts. Also, it extends the idea of life world of migrants hinting at the complex identity in a new space like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The main purpose of this article is to investigate the migrant employees’ perception and construction of multiple identities for each other in their everyday life. Their everyday negotiation and confrontation with respect to identity constructions have been focused on and discussed.