1st Edition

Innovative Departures Anthropology and the Indian Diaspora

By Ravindra K. Jain Copyright 2018
    180 Pages
    by Routledge India

    180 Pages
    by Routledge India

    This volume brings together analytical insights from modern social and cultural anthropology to unravel processes of globalization in the 21st century through diasporic migrations. Developments in anthropological theory and method are traced from the heritage of Enlightenment to the present times, with special reference to India. While firmly anchored in the local experience, the narrative of diasporic migrations presented in this book ranges widely to cover comparisons across the world and is informed by an interdisciplinary focus. The author deals with the issues of ethnicity, identity and modernity in a transnational and geopolitical context. The innovative and multi-dimensional thrust encompasses major themes and research methodology. The work includes important case studies and a detailed empirical exploration of the multicultural societies of Malaysia and South Africa.

    Authoritative and accessible, this book will be essential reading in contemporary anthropology, especially for scholars and researchers of sociology, social and cultural anthropology, diaspora and migration studies, ethnic studies and cultural studies as also international relations, foreign affairs, public policy, think-tanks and government bodies.

    Preface and Acknowledgements.  Introduction  1. Horizons of Anthropology  2. Anthropology Yesterday and Today  3. Anthropology and Diaspora Studies: Comparative Perspective  4. Anthropology and Diaspora Studies: Data and Interpretation  5. Race, Ethnicity and Identity in Diaspora  6. Nation and Trans-nation in Diasporic Geopolitics  7. Diasporic Integration and Social Justice in South Africa  8. Contemporary Malaysian Indians  9. Ascription, Aspiration and Achievement: Malaysian Indian Trajectory.  Conclusion: Anthropology at Home and Abroad.  Bibliography

    Biography

    Ravindra K. Jain is former Professor of Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He has also taught at the University of Oxford and held several other research and teaching positions. He has been Emeritus Fellow, University Grants Commission; National Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research; Tagore National Fellow; and T.H.B. Symons Fellow in Commonwealth Studies. He was previously Chairman, Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists (INCAA) and received the Life Time Achievement Award of the Indian Sociological Society (2013). He is on the editorial boards of the journals South Asian Diaspora and Global Networks. His published works include South Indians on the Plantation Frontier in Malaya (1970); Indian Communities Abroad (1993); The Universe as Audience: Metaphor and Community among the Jains of North India (1999); Between History and Legend: Status and Power in Bundelkhand (2002); Indian Transmigrants: Malaysian and Comparative Essays (2009/2011, which won the G.S. Ghurye Book Award); and Nation, Diaspora, Trans-Nation: Reflections from India (2010). Among his edited volumes are Text and Context: The Social Anthropology of Tradition (1977); Adversity to Advantage: The Saga of People of Indian Origin in South Africa (2010); and The Making of a Museum (2013). A festschrift, Dual Identity: Indian Diaspora and Other Essays, was published in 2013 in his honour.