An international E- conference on ‘Migration, Diasporas and Sustainable Development: Perspectives, Policies, Opportunities and Challenges’ was jointly organized by Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA), Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT) and Center for Research on North America (CISAN), from 2nd to 5th November, 2020. In a discussion that spanned continents, experts from various countries shared their perspectives on the migrant issues and possibilities of rebuilding a better future for migrants by making the global migration regime more equitable and fairer.
On the fourth day, i.e., 5 November 2020,five parallel discussions were held on various topics. The first session was devoted to the topic of ‘Perspectives on Migration and Diaspora -II.’ It was chaired by Prof. Kamala Ganesh, who is a retired Professor from the Department of Sociology, University of Mumbai.
Migration of Muslim Writers tothe USA
Dr.Shamenaz Bano, scholar based in Allahabad, India, presented a paper on the topic “Sustainable development and challenges of diasporic Muslim writers in American Literature”. She focused on how the Muslim writers who migrate to the USA from the countries of the Global South i.e. India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh experience a sense of “nostalgia” in the process of establishing their own linguistic culture in the country of destination.
Her discussion on Migration from the Global South to the North is designed from the perspective of a linguistic background, focusing on the push-pull factors of why people migrate from the former to the latter. The pull factors she mentions have primarily been the aspect of liberalism, individual freedom and choice. These factors acted as an alternative to the push factors in the writer’s home countries. However these social benefits in the USA came with the issues of assimilation and dominance of English language in the field of literature. Therefore, there was a great polarization between the idea of real and imagined experiences of the Muslim writers, which was quite visible in their work. An example of which can be seen in the book “Kite Runner” written by Khalid Hussain , An American Afghani English fiction writer. He reflects on the ideas of memories in the country of origin. Ms. Bano also introduces in her paper, The Muslim American Literature which became an amalgamation of the dominant English literature of the USA and literary contribution made by the South Asian Muslim writers who provided the domain with their experiences of migration as a coin having two sides to it, both good and bad.
Global Immigration after 20th Century
The era after the 20th Century has witnessed many changing trends when it comes to Global migration , which is also described to as “Age of Migration” by Prachy Hooda in her paper on “Good fences make good neighbours: A philosophical perspective and the changing dynamics of global Immigration and diaspora”. In her paper, she tried to provide insights on the importance of theoretical aspect of phenomena of immigration from the perspective of the current ongoing political events that have been noticed in the recent past and in the Global North.
The 20th century had witnessed a wave of events within the western political context consisting of mobilization of national groups and assertion of their identity, clash between minority and majority in terms of language riots, regional autonomy and educational curriculums. To provide the backdrop as to through which events, these situation arose, Ms. Hooda provided insights by bringing in the four political contexts ,i.e. a). Changing immigration norms after election of Trump b). Increased influx of West-Asian Immigrants living in Germany, which led a change in the demographics of the country c). The rise of Anti-Immigrants movement in Europe d). The manner in which the recent Anti-Refugee crisis is problematizing the identity of refugees.
Amidst these political events, one of the most important aspects involving immigrants is their well-being. The change in the cultural dynamics, acculturation process and process of adaption could take a toll on the well-being on the immigrants, as can be seen in the case of Mexican Immigrants in USA. The Mexican immigrants living in the States currently have tried to adapt into the culture at large but due to the political context of this particular migration and type of immigration policies that USA shares with Mexico. The Immigrants are bound to go through extreme socio-political challenges, as talked about Ms. Hooda.
“Immigration in the late 20th century was not only political but also social to quite an extent.”Ms. Hooda concluded.
Reciprocity between Migration and Marriage: Perspective from India
Indian society has witnessed a patriarchal society since decades and the situation remains no different when it comes to understanding migration from the perspective of marriage. This is reflected in the paper presented on “Marital status and stream of migration: A relevant investigation in India” by Rahul Mondal, who is a Masters student in the International Institute of Population Studies, India; Jadab Munda, who is M. Phil student in the International Institute of Population Studies and Uday Das, who is a PhD research scholar at Visva-Bharati, Shanti Niketan. The authors in this paper have come together to collaborate ideas in order to bridge the gap between marital status and migration in India. For this purpose, they looked at the aspect of interstate migration by marital status and sex in 2011.
India being a country divided on the basis of rural and urban sectors, it becomes important to understand migration from the point of urban –rural divide. Therefore, the authors looked at four types of migration considering the interstate migration i.e. a)rural-rural b)rural-urban c) urban –rural d) urban-urban. In case of the rural-rural category of migration, Uttar Pradesh as a state turned out to be the most dominant cluster, showing how migration in the state has been influenced by marriage. In terms of the rural – urban category of migration, Maharashtra was calculated to be highest due to the movement of people to work in the small- scale and textile industries of the city. It was also reported by Mr. Mondal that the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar reportedly has highest percentages of women migrants.
The institution of marriage in India has almost always acted as a catalyst for the migration of women within the states and across it, to the urban locations. The husbands have been the primary provider for the family, while the women have followed the trend of accompanying them to the new home state/ region . This is considered as an important segment of internal migration within India and Mr. Mondal et all have tried to represent this marriage – migration in their paper.
Changing Dynamics of Higher Education in India
Indian society when studied critically, is usually looked at from the point of view of caste and religion. However class also plays an important segment in shaping the Indian society speaking of class, it is mostly the middle class that is trying to rise in the hierarchy and one of the ways it is seeking to achieve this is through higher education in the developed countries of the West such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This can be reflected in the paper presented by Sumit Kumar on “Internal Migration for higher education –is it a two-step migration?” International migration for seeking higher education appears as a potential developmental choice because due to the support of the two state policy which allows Indian students in these countries to enter the labor market after their studies, attain work visa and finally get access to the citizenship of that particular country. Then the question arises as to why more involvement of the students into the Indian labor market is not encouraged if they happen to complete their higher education in India?
The above question has led many scholars and policy makers to question the Indian education system and its efficiency to preparing the youth for the job market. Among the potential solutions that have been suggested by the policy makers in the year 2020 is that the transformation of Indian economy into a knowledge based economy would be ideal, that will enhance their engagement into specialized service sectors’ activity and that the regions of the country having more Universities in India should try and incorporate more students post their students into the job market, says Mr. Kumar.
Uprising of the middle class in India has been an everyday phenomena and it will always continue to be. However in order for it to be more efficient, it is important to develop the field of higher education in India in the direction of the employment opportunities and job market so that the practicality of the education qualifications can be justified.
Pooja Priyais a postgraduate in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. She holds research interests in: migration within the globalsouth, marginalization for ethnically minority groups, and racialization in India. Twitter id :poojapr92856063.