Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Annual Conference.
I’ll be attending this conference at University of Sussex, on behalf of the REALM team, this week. I’ll will report back on the conference, here. 5th conference_poster_A4 colour
I’ll be attending this conference at University of Sussex, on behalf of the REALM team, this week. I’ll will report back on the conference, here. 5th conference_poster_A4 colour
Border Crossings is well worth your time with a browse. I’ve been inspired this week to read there about the play being devised around issues of indentured labour from India to Mauritius. Coolitude has certainly longtime been a helpful concept to many of us who work in migration; while putting some humanity into the stories, and some stories into the history, has been inspiring for many of us as we work to
Open Society, a student organisation, invited me to speak and meet on campus on Nov 22nd. I gave a short talk about the project and about Gulf migration, took some great questions, and had some thoughtful discussion. Discussion ranged around several issues, including: shifts in Kerala culture and lifestyle brought by Gulf; changes in attitude towards the desirability of migration from older generations (often highly favourable) to present young generation
REALM project workers gathered in Abu Dhabi Nov 14th and 15th to share progress and work towards next steps. We have demographers, economists, geographers, ethnographers, speaking to each other about Gulf migration issues. What is exciting for me about being in this portfolio of projects are two highly unusual aspects: firstly, that we have a genuinely respectful cross-disciplinary conversation going on, without any of the ‘quantitatives versus qualitatives’ or ‘demographers
I’m in UAE right now and off to Kerala tomorrow. On the plane, I watched two Malayalam movies. It’s not unusual that both referenced migration. This movie (Marubhumiyile aana (2017)- elephant of the desert) was especially interesting, with its rich roll-out of several Gulf stereotypes, a hybrid protagonist who has an Arab father, and a Malayali mother, and its Arabic catch-phrase – Mafi fulus, mafi mushqil (no money no problem). Something I’ll be
Certainly not agreeing with all of this post – for example, a timeline which starts with the oil boom overlooks way too much shared histories. But it’s interesting as an example of discourse around Gulf. And the comments thread is equally interesting.
REALM project workers will be gathering in Abu Dhabi on November 14th and 15th 2017 to present their work to each other for discussion. By next year, there may be some more public presentations and work in preparation for publication. The presenters will be: Sajida Ally; Hannah Bruckner; Swethaa Ballakrishnen; Dirgha Ghimire; Daniel Karell; Randall Kuhn; Othman Nour; Yaw Nyarko; Caroline Osella; Marie Percot; Ganesh Seshan; Irudaya Rajan; Caroline Theoharides; Susan Godlonton; Bilesha Weeraratne. We will be presenting our initial empirical work and discussing
I plan to be in Kerala again in January – February. I have begun to make some connections, explain the project to people, and find places to stay while I conduct some fieldwork and interviews. I’ll be staying for around 3 weeks each in Calicut and in Mavelikkara and following through on some of the threads gathered so far. Do contact me via what’s app or email for any information
I want to hear from anyone, from any community, any status, who hails from Calicut or Mavelikkara areas, and who has spent any amount of time in Abu Dhabi, Ras al Khaimah or Muscat, and who has anything at all to say about my main interest for this project: apart from the economic angle, what else does migration mean in your life and the lives of your family and community?
Been following this on FB for a long time now.