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GROUP FOR RESEARCH ON INDIAN DIASPORA UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI (G R I D)

Overview of GRID Activities:

1. Research Project:
Indian Diasporas in the Era of Globalisation: Multiple Locations, Plural Identities and Privileged Exchange
 

The research project is a holistic one with a focus on two critical dimensions common to Diaspora studies namely 'Identity' and 'Exchange'. Each of the 6 researchers addresses these dimensions from the vantage point of different approaches and methodologies. The project is a multi-faculty, collaborative, interdisciplinary and comparative one, in which the segments feed into each other. 

The GRID researchers focus on the following geopolitical and thematic areas of the Indian Diaspora from sociological, political, philosophical, economic and cultural angles: 
1.
          Study of the Indian Diaspora in South Africa
2.
          Study of the Indian Diaspora in Mauritius
3.
          Study of Diasporic Indian Literature in English.

 

1. The Indian Diaspora in South Africa is studied from the socio-economic and socio-political and religio-cultural angles by Renu Modi, Kamala Ganesh and Dolly Sunny. They will look at the renegotiation of identities in the local and global context by the Indian Diaspora in South Africa. They will also consider the adaptations and reinventions in Diasporic Hinduism in that country. The economic angle on the Diaspora will be analysed in the form of the impact of Diasporic Indians on the South African economy and the impact of the economic activities of this Diaspora on India too. Renu Modi's segment aims to study the several facets of Indians in South Africa (ISA), i.e., the 'Birds of Passage' who migrated initially as indentured labourers, and then as traders. This research attempts to analyze: The interrelationship between: The ISA and Apartheid government's response and Issues of political and economic identity among the ISA's in post-apartheid South Africa; India's evolving foreign policy towards its diaspora and The responses of the ISA's to the pro-diaspora policy adopted by the Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs (MOIA), post 2000. Kamala Ganesh's study in this segment is on the contemporary relationship between the practice of Hinduism in the South African diaspora and in India. While the earlier approach within diaspora studies emphasized on the impact of home country and culture on identity making in the diasporic community, more recent theorizing focuses on the two way exchange processes between 'home' and diaspora. These have been further accentuated under the impact of globalization, technological developments and the formation of virtual and transnational communities. Contours and expressions of diasporic Hinduism vary with geographic and social location of the diasporic community. Their ramifications in terms of temple building, sects and charismatic gurus, regional, linguistic and caste associations, and political mobilization will be studied through a combination of ethnographic research, monitoring public discourse and artefacts of popular culture. The study aims to make a conceptual and theoretical contribution, while generating and drawing upon empirical material from Mauritius and South Africa. Dolly Sunny proposes to develop an econometric model for the Study of Indian Diaspora in South Africa. It applies the multiple regression technique to assess and verify the impact of various influential factors on diasporic remittances from South Africa. Some of the factors considered are Foreign Direct Investments, Diaspora Direct Investment, Diaspora Capital Market instruments, Diaspora Tourism and Nostalgic Trade, IT off shores, real estate deals, employment potential and the volume of migration. The model has been developed by taking these as independent variables, with Diasporic remittances as the dependent variable. Such a model finds various useful applications, the main one being the identification of areas where the Indian Diaspora would excel with investment in South Africa, thereby enhancing its competitiveness. This in turn, would boost the flow of remittances to India. Additionally, effective policy recommendations could be given to assist the Indian Diaspora to globalize their operations. 

2. The Indian Diaspora in Mauritius is the oldest one and began in the 1830s. Mauritius was colonised in turns by both the British as well as the French so it has produced literature in both languages, but mainly in French. The study of Francophone writers of Indian origins is being done by Mangala Sirdeshpande. She will be focusing on the works of women writers and doing a comparative study of their texts and those of women writers in Marathi from Maharashtra. This will help establish a dialogue of cultures between India and Mauritius, promote women's studies and define third world feminism in contrast with its European counterpart. She will also be including interviews with writers in her research findings. While the Indian Diasporic Literature in Mauritius is in the main Francophone, there are some writers who translate their French works into English. One such writer is Ananda Devi and Nilufer Bharucha would be looking at English translations of her works and other Anglophone Diasporic novels from Mauritius. In the same geo-political location, the sociological study of Hindus in Mauritius is handled by Kamala Ganesh along the same parameters as laid out in the context of the Indian Diaspora in South Africa.

3. The Study of Diasporic Indian Literature in English is the cultural aspect of the Indian Diaspora and it is studied independently of geopolitical space and embraces more Indian Diasporic locations than South Africa and Mauritius. The study of Indian Diasporic literature in English is done by Nilufer Bharucha. She will be looking at the literature written by the old as well as the new Indian Diaspora. The old Diaspora was of colonial origins and was taken to places like Mauritius, West Indies, South and East Africa as indentured labourers. This colonial diaspora also includes professionals like lawyers, doctors and engineers. The new Diaspora is of postcolonial origins and embraces the post-war labour diaspora as well as the professional and student diasporas of the post-1970s. These Diasporas have different ways of looking at issues of identity and exchange. This section of the project will therefore consider Diasporic Indian writers in English from both the old and new diasporas. She will also be interviewing the target writers to make her findings more complete. The theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of this literature are studied by Kanchana Mahadevan. She will be investigating diasporic identity through its articulation in cultural politics given the hegemonic status of the diasporic representation of 'home' within the canvas of globalization and modernity. Thus, a key theme will centre on whether the diaspora is responsible to its home or host or both. She aims at analyzing the complexities that underlie the formation of diasporic culture and identity. Pluralism, hybridity, hierarchy are key terms in diasporic discourse on identity. Again, Indian diasporic communities are not homogeneous and have to further strive to negotiate their relation to other diasporic communities. Moreover, since diasporic cultures are not outside the matrices of class and gender, their relation to both have to be taken into account. Her work also endeavours to examine the distinction between the colonial and postcolonial diasporic approaches to culture and identity. By philosophically dwelling on culture and identity, her project will explore the relation between culture and what lies outside it: namely, politics, society and economics.