The Bengal diaspora: Bengali settlers in South Asia and Britain: a comparative and interdisciplinaray study
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: International History
Abstract
Since the partition of India In 1947, the Bengal delta has produced diasporas on a scale which has few parallels In modern history. Twenty million or so people, both Hindu and Muslim, fled their homes in the wake of partition (1947), communal violence (1948, 1950, 1964), and civil war (1971). The overwhelming majority resettled in the Bengal delta itself, with large consequences for the social and political structures of the region. About 300,000 Bengalis have settled in the United Kingdom, and constitute one of the most significant ethnic minorities in contemporary Britain.
The aim of the project is to undertake an inter-disciplinary investigation of the Bengali diaspora since 1947, with a view to comparing the migration experience of displaced Bengalis who resettled in South Asia, as against those who immigrated to the United Kingdom.
The focus will be, in the main, on Bengali Muslim migrant groups in these different settings, since over 90% of the Bengalis who settled in the UK are Muslims. Bengali Muslim migrants in these different settlings show some common features. Both in Bengal and in Britain, they tend to have clustered together in densely packed 'ghettos'. In both settings, Bengali Muslims appear to have fared less well than their Hindu counterparts, whether in terms of education or employment. In addition, in both locations, there is some evidence to suggest that they are alienated from the political and cultural mainstreams of the 'host' societies.
Yet despite these intriguing patterns, there has been no research which compares the two groups of migrants. Moreover, different disciplinary approaches have been brought to bear on these two groups. Studies of the UK Bengali population have tended to be conducted by sociologists and anthropologists, whereas those of the Bengal refugees mainly by historians, with very little mutual awareness or dialogue. Furthermore, scholarship on Bengalis in the UK has tended to view them as 'economic' migrants, whereas Bengalis resettled in the delta itself have been regarded as 'forced' migrants or 'refugees'.
The aim of this project is to bring together these different approaches and perspectives so as to construct a historically grounded sociology of the gal diaspora. The project will inquire who these migrants were, where they came from, and why they resettled where they did. It will explore in ways that their experience of integration has been shaped by their different locations. In doing so it will seek to investigate whether the sharp distinctions drawn between 'economic' and 'forced' migrations are tenable or useful concepts in understanding the movement of people in modern times, and how this may impact on our conceptualisation of 'diaspora' Identities.
The aim of the project is to undertake an inter-disciplinary investigation of the Bengali diaspora since 1947, with a view to comparing the migration experience of displaced Bengalis who resettled in South Asia, as against those who immigrated to the United Kingdom.
The focus will be, in the main, on Bengali Muslim migrant groups in these different settings, since over 90% of the Bengalis who settled in the UK are Muslims. Bengali Muslim migrants in these different settlings show some common features. Both in Bengal and in Britain, they tend to have clustered together in densely packed 'ghettos'. In both settings, Bengali Muslims appear to have fared less well than their Hindu counterparts, whether in terms of education or employment. In addition, in both locations, there is some evidence to suggest that they are alienated from the political and cultural mainstreams of the 'host' societies.
Yet despite these intriguing patterns, there has been no research which compares the two groups of migrants. Moreover, different disciplinary approaches have been brought to bear on these two groups. Studies of the UK Bengali population have tended to be conducted by sociologists and anthropologists, whereas those of the Bengal refugees mainly by historians, with very little mutual awareness or dialogue. Furthermore, scholarship on Bengalis in the UK has tended to view them as 'economic' migrants, whereas Bengalis resettled in the delta itself have been regarded as 'forced' migrants or 'refugees'.
The aim of this project is to bring together these different approaches and perspectives so as to construct a historically grounded sociology of the gal diaspora. The project will inquire who these migrants were, where they came from, and why they resettled where they did. It will explore in ways that their experience of integration has been shaped by their different locations. In doing so it will seek to investigate whether the sharp distinctions drawn between 'economic' and 'forced' migrations are tenable or useful concepts in understanding the movement of people in modern times, and how this may impact on our conceptualisation of 'diaspora' Identities.
Publications
Alexander
(2015)
The Bengal Diaspora: Rethinking Muslim migration
Alexander, C
(2016)
The Bengal Diaspora. Rethinking Muslim Migration
CHATTERJI J
(2012)
SOUTH ASIAN HISTORIES OF CITIZENSHIP, 1946-1970
in The Historical Journal
Chatterji J
(2017)
Rejoinder
in Ethnic and Racial Studies
Chatterji J
(2013)
Dispositions and Destinations: Refugee Agency and "Mobility Capital" in the Bengal Diaspora, 1947-2007
in Comparative Studies in Society and History
Chatterji, J
(2013)
Secularism and partition emergencies: deep diplomacy in the Indo-Pak borderlands
in Economic and Political Weekly
Chatterji, J
(2013)
From subject to citizen: Rethinking the "post-colonial" immigration order
Chatterji, J.
(2013)
British History and How to Teach it Today
in Trinity College Fountain Magazine
Chatterji, J.
(2013)
The Handbook of the South Asian Diaspora, (London: Taylor and Francis), 2013.
Chatterji, J.
(2013)
Migration myths and the mechanics of assimilation. Two community histories from Bengal
in Studies in the Humanities and the Social Sciences
Dr Joya Chatterji (Author)
(2009)
Human Rights in Bangladesk
Jolene Lin (Author)
The Bengal diaspora in Britain: literature review'.
Joya Chatterji (Author)
'Migration myths and the mechanics of assimilation'
Joya Chatterji (Author)
South Asian Histories of Citizenship
Joya Chatterji (Author)
'Dispositions and destinations; 'mobilty capital' and migration
Joya Chatterji (Author)
'Making Brick Lane: pasts, presents, futures'
Title | Who do you think you are? |
Description | The project leaders, Professors Chatterji and Alexander, in collaboration with the Runnymede Trust, Centre of South Asian Studies Cambridge, and members of the Church of England, have advised in the writing of a play about the diaspora in Britain, which has toured the country to commemorate the 70th anniversary of India's partition. Professor Chatterji has advised a recent episode of the popular TV series, 'Who do you think you are?' |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Impact | A drive to imbed the teaching of the history of the diaspora, and its connection with the Indian partition, in CofE schools in the country. |
Description | Among many exciting findings, the research has enabled Dr Chatterji to understand and refine a new concept in migration studies, that of 'mobility capital'. She defines this as assets and competences possessed by migrants, a 'package' of dispositions made up, in varying proportions, of economic, cultural and social capital. The migrants interviewed often proved to be beneficiaries of pre-histories of mobility, as well as legatees of debts and obligations incurred in the course of these histories. In their turn, these factors proved extremely significant in shaping migrants' choices of destination, and explaining their patterns of settlement and self-identification. The findings of this research challenge the conventional notion that there is a clear conceptual distinction between 'forced' migrants (or refugees) and economic migrants. All the migrants studied in this project straddled this divide. Having moved (or stayed on and been internally displaced) within contexts of nation formation, ethnic and religious discrimination and violence, they can be seen as classic 'refugees'. But in fact all moved in grooves or along networks created by older forms of 'economic' mobility. The research also underlines the extent to which migrants experience and perform their identity differently in different settings, revealing strong affective dimensions of community formation. Diasporic groups developed and expressed new attachments to place in ways which challenge static accounts of multiculturalism, celebratory notions of 'transnationalism' and over-simplistic accounts of diasporic cultures. The international and historic comparisons revealed too how different circumstances of migration and arrival both open up opportunities and constrain choice for migrants. While many migrants settled in the west have gained greater agency as a consequence of their 'transnational' lifestyles, this experience has not always been shared by migrants in South Asia. There, laws governing minorities (the Evacuee and Enemy Property Acts) communal conflict and economic constraints have meant that many have been effectively immobilized in locations where their capacities, rights and choices are severely limited. |
Exploitation Route | Others might take this research forward by doing more work on 'mobility capital', on the links between forced and economic migration, and by applying these insights to migration in other locations. |
Sectors | Security and Diplomacy |
URL | http://banglastories.org |
Description | The 'Bangla stories' website is one of several outcomes of an ambitious, collaborative, inter-disciplinary research project on the Bengal diaspora, led by Dr Joya Chatterji of the Faculty of History and funded by the AHRC. The project's findings point to the complex ways in which decolonisation and the formation of nation states in South Asia have had an impact upon older forms of mobility and created new streams of migration, not only within South Asia itself but also from the subcontinent to Britain. 'Bangla stories' encourages young people, in particular school children at Key Stage 3, to think about the history of migration and the experience of migrants. It stimulates classroom discussion about how and why people moved to Britain, survived, adapted and integrated there while remaining embedded in networks of community which often span the globe. The website is the product of an effective ongoing collaboration between academics, think-tanks, schools, community organisers and civil society groups. |
First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
Sector | Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Policy & public services |
Title | Edited transcripts of selected interviews from the fieldwork to be archived by Centre for South Asian Studies (Cambridge) and/or BLPES (LSE Research Online) |
Description | |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Description | CHATTERJI: collaborative project on bride migrants in Britain and India; joint application with Professor Sen, Director, Women's Studies Centre, Kolkata, India, to UKIERI. |
Organisation | UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Information taken from Final Report |