Women in the Indian Diaspora

This volume brings into focus a range of emergent issues related to women in the Indian diaspora. The conditions propelling women’s migration and their experiences during the process of migration and settlement have always been different and very specific to them. Standing ‘in-between’ the two worlds of origin and adoption, women tend to experience dialectic tensions between freedom and subjugation, but they often use this space to assert independence, and to redefine their roles and perceptions of self. The  central idea in this volume is to understand women’s agency in addressing and redressing the complex issues faced by them; in restructuring the cultural formats of patriarchy and gender relations; managing the emerging conflicts over what is to be transmitted to the following generations,; renegotiating their domestic roles and embracing new professional and educational successes; and adjusting to the institutional structures of the host state. The essays included in the volume discuss women in the Indian diaspora from multidisciplinary perspectives involving social, economic, cultural, and political aspects. Such an effort privileges diasporic women’s experiences and perspectives in the academia and among policy makers. 

“A. Pande’s study makes an important contribution towards a realistic assessment and further discussion of the current challenges during the process of migration and settlement. … A. Pande offers a colorful diasporic kaleidoscope of political, socio-religious diversity of exciting forms of the similar and the strange, the interesting and the boring, genuine and imaginary experiences under the umbrella term ‘Women in the Indian Diaspora.’” (Othmar Gächter, Anthropos, Vol. 114 (2), 2019)“The volume is well structured and tries to look at the Indian diaspora from the perspective of women which also fills a literary gap in both diaspora and gender studies. It helps the reader to obtain a glimpse of diaspora through a gender narrative. The book is also a good read. It helps the reader to understand the experience of women in the Indian diaspora in a readable manner but with a robust theoretical backing.” (Abhijeet, Asian Affairs, Vol. 50 (3), 2019)

Dr Amba Pande is associated with School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University.  Dr Pande received her PhD from Centre for Southeast Asia and South West Pacific Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi. Her research interests include Indian Diaspora, International migration and Indo-Pacific.  She has also been a visiting faculty/scholar at University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), University of South Pacific (Fiji), and Otego University (New Zealand).  She has done major projects on Indian diaspora with University Grants Commission (UGC) and Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).  Dr Pande is a prolific writer and has many publications to her credit in national and international journals. She has been invited to give independent lectures, present papers, be discussant and Chair in a number of national and international seminars and conferences.  She is currently working on a book manuscript on Fiji Indians and  Diasporic Identities.