Transnational Migration and the Politics of Identity – Edited by Meenakshi Thapan

Transnational Migration and the Politics of Identity Meenakshi Thapan ( ed ). Sage Publications , New Delhi, Thousand Oaks and London , 2005 , pp . 320 ( ISBN 0-7619-3424-3 ) ( hbk) (ISBN 0-7619-3425-1 ) ( pbk ). This book, the first in a series on ‘Women and Migration in Asia’, consists largely of papers presented in a panel on ‘Transnational Migration and the Politics of Identity’ at a December 2003 conference in New Delhi. In her ‘Series introduction’ at the start of the book, Meenakshi Thapan provides a clear overview of the series' intentions to stress the importance of a gendered perspective on migration for both theory and policy. In particular, the series aims to emphasize women's agency within migration, the importance of interdisciplinary work and the eclecticism of theoretical and methodological approaches seeking to contribute to gender and migration debates. These themes and trends are very apparent within this volume. Thapan's opening chapter on ‘Identity, woman and the state’ highlights the ways in which migration creates new forms of identity as part of the ‘transnational condition’, whereby continued kin, economic, social and political links across national borders result in ‘the discontinuities and departures not being absolute’ (p. 24). The state, particularly in the context of immigration policy, has a vital role to play in structuring the ways in which migrants can or must forge new identities or reconfigure old ones. The following nine chapters then elaborate on these themes in the context of different migrant groups and destinations. A number of chapters deal with generational issues and how women migrants try to reassert their identity in a new environment through their mothering practices. For example, Nilufar Ahmed discusses the case of Bangladeshi women in London and the ways in which an unfamiliar environment leads to greater awareness of a Muslim identity and the need to provide appropriate guidance and support for their British-born children to ensure that they grow up with the ‘correct’ (i.e. ‘Bangladeshi’) values. In this and the chapters by Aparna Rayaprol (on young Indian-American women in the USA) and Sunera Thobani (on the experiences of young women of colour in Vancouver, Canada) the authors highlight the ways in which young women, while far more likely to be viewed as the bearers of ‘traditional culture’ than their male siblings, are able to negotiate and perform their identities. For me, Santi Rozario's chapter on unmarried female Bangladeshi migrants was both the most enjoyable to read and the most thought-provoking. In contrast to most other chapters that do not develop arguments sufficiently to illuminate the reader's understanding of transnational identity and gender debates, Rozario uses ethnography, and in this case focuses on one female migrant, Dipti, to examine the ways in which family networks, social pressures and economic stresses can entwine migrants. The detailed account of Dipti's life in Australia successfully demonstrates the ways in which identity is performed and negotiated by individuals in different settings, and also ascribed by others based on cultural norms and expectations. By following Dipti in her life in Australia and on visits ‘home’ to Bangladesh, Rozario is able to provide insights into the embeddedness of identity, as well as its fluidity. Transnational processes are often accused of undermining the nation state, as individuals physically present in one state may still have significant links elsewhere. Thus, the firm boundaries of nations and regions are being tested. This is obvious throughout this book which, although being part of a series on ‘Women and Migration in Asia’, is not limited to processes within ‘Asia’ as it is usually conceived, but incorporates Asian (although nearly all chapters deal with Indian or Bangladeshi) women, or women of Asian descent, in North America, Australia and the UK. While welcoming this breadth and recognition of the problems of dealing with bounded regions in the context of migration, I found the inclusion of Christine Delphy's chapter on the ban of the Islamic headscarf in France somewhat jarring, as it deals with people of North African descent. The editor notes that the paper was ‘incorporated to substantiate the debate around notions of race, ethnicity, religion and citizenship, in the context of women's practice of using a religious symbol to assert their identity’ (p. 58). While the chapter certainly does this, I feel that if other authors had also been given the chance to extend their chapters further, the overall theoretical contribution of the volume could have been higher. The numerical importance of Asian women in migration flows has been an obvious trend, particularly within the last 20 years. This book provides interesting perspectives on the diversity of Asian women's experiences as migrants and counters their frequent portrayal as passive victims of patriarchy, state power and poverty. However, while all the chapters include new empirical material, only a few successfully build on the qualitative data to develop new arguments in relation to the politics of identity in transnational gendered migration.

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