WP 552 'Male, Migrant, Muslim. Identities and entitlements of Afghans and Bengalis in a South Delhi neighbourhood', by Madhura Chakraborty
Madhura Chakraborty is one of the three ISS MA Research Paper Award winners for the academic year 2011-2012.
The other two award winning papers are written by Maria Eugenia Bedoya Arias and Martha Jane Robbins.
Comment by one of the jury members
“This theory-driven qualitative research paper focuses on a topic oft-marginalised in mainstream development studies—one of Muslim male migrants in an informal economy, but also one which challenges the essentialism inherent in most academic treatment of the complex and diverse identities and identifications within this heterogeneous group. While much of the theoretical framework is heavily dependent upon secondary interpretations of primary scholarship on agency, citizenship, and identity, with a crucial omission of Judith Butler’s work on performative gender identity, the strength of the paper resides in the empirical analysis in Chapter 4 and in its unflinching criticism of forced identities and discrimination. All in all, the final product is impressively polished and contributes boldly to the future of research in development studies.”— Comment by external juror Dr. Cissie Fu, Director of Studies and Assistant Professor of Political Theory, Leiden University College, The Hague.
Abstract
In recent time Delhi has revealed its ambitions as a global city. The consequent need for cheap, casual, migrant labour for maintaining its world-scale ambitions has been highlighted in a lot of literature, particularly in the post Commonwealth Games (CWG) period. The migrant labourers in the informal economy of Delhi are seen as oppressed, particularly if they belong to a subordinated social group, like the Muslim male migrants. However, there is need to examine the homogenization implied by ‘Muslim male migrants’.
This research aims to challenge the one-dimensional depiction of Muslim male migrants as ‘victims’. Analysing the narratives of two groups of Muslim migrant men in a South Delhi neighbourhood, this research tries to critically look at stable markers of identity such as ethnicity, gender and class. The research reveals identities as fluid, multiple and relational. The men emerge as complex subjects—not just passive ‘victims’ but capable of asserting agency, often through the strategic mobilisation of their multiple identities.
Keywords
Informal economy, men, Muslim men, migrants, Afghan migrants, Bengali migrants, rickshaw-pullers, ethnicity, masculinities, multiple identities, feminist methodology, urban citizenship, Right to the City, Delhi Master Plan 2021, Delhi.
About the author
| Madhura Chakraborty did her MA in Development Studies, with the specialization Women, Gender and Development (WGD) at ISS in 2011-2012. She also holds an MA from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India (2007). She is Programme Officer at the Aman Public Charitable Trust, in New Delhi, India. |
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Publication date: Thursday, 07 March 2013
