Description
Book SynopsisRadhika Mongia outlines the colonial genealogy of the modern nation-state by tracing how the British Empire monopolized control over migration, showing how between its abolition of slavery in 1834 and World War One, the regulation of Indians moving throughout the Commonwealth linked migration with nationality and state sovereignty.
Trade Review"
Indian Migration and Empire presents a detailed analysis of the history of colonial Indian migration of indentured labor to Mauritius, the Caribbean, Canada, and South Africa. . . . This illuminating research makes an important contribution to the fields of colonialism, migration, and political studies. . . . Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above." -- D. A. Chekki * Choice *
"Methodologically innovative and theoretically rigorous . . . Mongia has written a pathbreaking book. In the wake of this work it will no longer be possible to tell the story of border-making without a scrutiny of how human labor was dehumanized on an imperial and global scale." -- Debjani Bhattacharyya * H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews *
"Mongia’s book is a methodological
tour de force in migration studies and theories of the state. But the commendable feat of this book is that these accomplishments do not stand apart – her contribution to migration studies is enriched by the careful theorising of states, at once colonial, transcolonial and metropolitan." -- Tarangini Sriraman * The Wire *
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Indian Migration and Empire cautions us in the epilogue that the project of modern nation state and who belongs in such a nation state is a project still incomplete and can inflict terrible oppressions and restrictions as in the example of Iroquois/Haudenosaunee of North America. For this caution alone, this book is a must-read for all who are interested in historiography of migration and political theory." -- Mithilesh Kumar * Economic and Political Weekly *
"Mongia’s account is a fresh, fascinating explanation of the intricacies of migration and its impact on host-countries, nation-state and bureaucratic development, and at the heart of it all, the emigrant. There has been a steady change in academia to consider a more global and cultural perspective, and this book is relevant to many scholars, including those in political science, history, sociology, women’s studies, migration, Asian studies, colonial and post-colonial studies, and global issues." -- Kathleen M. Davis * International Social Science Review *
"Radhika Mongia’s fascinating analysis of Indian migration to South Africa and its history-making aftermath is fascinatingly readable. Indian Migration and Empire certainly places Mongia among the established scholars in the field." -- Tarique Niazi * Journal of International and Global Studies *
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Indian Migration and Empire is a fresh and important contribution to our understanding of the modern world." -- Thomas R. Metcalf * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Migration of "Free" Labor: Contracting Freedom 22
2. Disciplinary Power and the Colonial State: The Bureaucracy of Migration Control 56
3. Gendered Nationalism, the Racialized State, and the Making of Migration Law: The Indian "Marriage Question" in South Africa 85
4. Race, Nationality, Mobility: A History of the Passport 112
Epilogue. In History: A Colonial Genealogy of the Modern State 141
Notes 151
Bibliography 199
Index 221
