The Indian diaspora is the largest diaspora community in the world, with an approximate population of 35.4 million. From the migration of the indentured labour force during the colonial period to the mass immigration of educated Indians to overseas countries in the late twentieth century, the Indian diaspora has indeed become a global phenomenon. Expanding migration circuits, job and business opportunities, shifting lifestyles, skilled and semi-skilled labour force, among others, have resulted in significant socioeconomic mobility, especially over the last 25 years. Besides making significant contributions to varied fields, the Indian diaspora has also arguably brought changes in how others have traditionally seen India. Promotion of Indian culture through festivals, cultural performances, cinema, and literature has played a key role in this regard.

However, the Indian diaspora has faced many challenges over the years. Racism is one of the common experiences that the Indian diaspora has to face. Economic vulnerability, job crisis, residential crisis, discrimination at the workplace, cultural domination, and minority status increase the difficulty for first-generation immigrants and migrant labourers. Ethnic clashes between the natives and the immigrant or migrant Indians occur frequently. There is another challenge within the Indian diaspora, which stems from within Indian communities. It is the caste-based discrimination among Indian immigrants or migrants that has become a matter of concern. Apparently, the Indian diaspora may seem homogeneous. Nevertheless, the lived experiences of the Dalit Indian diaspora in workplaces belie this perception. The migration of the Hindu caste system in First-World countries, especially in the USA, and the caste discrimination that the Dalit diaspora is facing, have added a new dimension to the study of the Indian diaspora. Despite newer debates emerging around race, caste, citizenship, religion, and transnational politics, the Indian diaspora has achieved significant success and is contributing to various sectors, including literature, academia, scientific innovation, sports, entertainment, tourism, and politics, among others.

The proposed edited volume seeks to examine these contours of the Indian diaspora, situating them within broader scholarly conversations in diaspora and migration studies. Foregrounding the embedded heterogeneity of the Indian diaspora across regions, socioeconomic classes, religious and caste identities, and migration histories, the edited volume seeks to delve deep into the lived experiences of the Indian diaspora, understand their political trajectories, and examine the shifting meanings of identity, belonging, and mobility.

By generating critical interdisciplinary insights, the edited volume seeks to address the evolving landscape of the Indian diaspora, which has indeed become increasingly significant in the current global and Indian national context. By historicizing the origins of the Indian diaspora before, during, and after the colonial period, the edited volume aims to critically examine the challenges the Indian diaspora has faced over the years and to evaluate the progress it has achieved or may achieve in the future. It seeks to investigate the continuities and shifts from precolonial mobility to postcolonial migration and to 21st-century global talent flows. It attempts to analyse the lived experiences of various forms of discrimination, adaptation, and the complexities of second-generation identity formation. The edited volume proposes to engage with contemporary immigration policies in major host countries and their impacts on Indian migrants, and, at the same time, to situate the Indian diaspora within current debates in transnational politics. It seeks to understand the economic, political, and cultural contributions of Indian-origin communities across different global regions and endeavours to engage critically with the growing literature on the Indian diaspora. Systematic critical insights to be invited from scholars on the following (but not limited) subthemes:

1. The historical trajectory of the Indian diaspora: precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial period.
2. Indentured Labour and its contemporary legacies.
3. Skilled migration and the rise of transnational professionals.
4. GCC and the Indian Diaspora: Challenges and Prospects
5. Diplomatic and Strategic Policies and Partnership in the Indian Diaspora: India and the host countries.
6. Comparative immigration policy of Western host countries.
7. U.S. immigration reforms and their impact on the Indian diaspora.
8. “Illegal Bangladeshi” Discourse in Indian Politics: Reality or Myth?
9. Religious minorities in the South Asian diaspora context.
10. Indian Dalit diaspora and caste discrimination.
11. Racial discrimination in Western host countries.
12. Representation of Indian Diaspora through Indian Cinema and global media
13. Indian Diaspora Literature: Themes of exile, identity, and hybridity.
14. Indian Festivals in the West: Cultural Perspective of Indian Diaspora
15. IITs and Indian Diaspora: Opportunities and Challenges
16. Tourism and Indian Diaspora
17. Children of the Immigrants in the West: Identity crises, language barriers, and challenges in Elementary Education
18. Religion and Spirituality in Diasporic Identity Formation.
19. Women in the Indian Diaspora: Gendered experiences of migration and settlement.

For details, please visit: https://ssjalangirlscollege.org.in/book.php