Itty Abraham
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804791632
- eISBN:
- 9780804792684
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804791632.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter examines diaspora as a territorializing practice of foreign policy. It is concerned with understanding the changes in India's diaspora policy, from inclusion during the colonial period, ...
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This chapter examines diaspora as a territorializing practice of foreign policy. It is concerned with understanding the changes in India's diaspora policy, from inclusion during the colonial period, to rejection from 1947–1999, followed by a selective reincorporation from the early 2000s. The chapter first offers a historical summary of the emergence of a globally dispersed Indian nation. It argues that India turned its back on its diaspora on gaining independence to assuage the concerns of its Asian neighbors. By the end of the century, however, India was concerned with bringing elements of its overseas population “home,” in particular, upper-caste and middle-class Hindus. This process of reterritorialization and deterritorialization was driven by contradictions in the definition of the Indian nation exacerbated by domestic social upsurge.Less
This chapter examines diaspora as a territorializing practice of foreign policy. It is concerned with understanding the changes in India's diaspora policy, from inclusion during the colonial period, to rejection from 1947–1999, followed by a selective reincorporation from the early 2000s. The chapter first offers a historical summary of the emergence of a globally dispersed Indian nation. It argues that India turned its back on its diaspora on gaining independence to assuage the concerns of its Asian neighbors. By the end of the century, however, India was concerned with bringing elements of its overseas population “home,” in particular, upper-caste and middle-class Hindus. This process of reterritorialization and deterritorialization was driven by contradictions in the definition of the Indian nation exacerbated by domestic social upsurge.
