5 research outputs found
Attacking transnationalism and citizenship: British Bangladeshis, family migration, and the postcolonial state
In July 2012, major changes to the family migration rules were made in the UK, severely restricting British and settled residentsâ rights to sponsor non-EEA family members. However, little is known about how they have been experienced in practice, particularly by the South Asian families they target. Our article draws on policy and media analysis alongside original qualitative research to shed light on how the 2012 family migration rules have impacted British Bangladeshis, and with what consequences for their experiences of citizenship and the possibilities of them leading transnational lives. We argue that the rules amount to a raced, gendered, and classed âattackâ on both transnationalism and citizenship and suggest that, while transnationalism and citizenship are often analysed separately, they are in fact deeply intertwined
The Burden of Conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims Navigating Diversity in London, Luton and Birmingham
This article considers the convivial turn in migration and diversity studies, and some of its silences. Conviviality has been conceptualised by some as the ability to be at ease in the presence of diversity. However, insufficient attention has been paid to considering who is affectively at ease with whose differences or, more particularly, what the work of conviviality requires of those marked as other vis-a-vis European white normativity. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with British Bangladeshi Muslims in London, Luton and Birmingham, we argue that a focus on âease in the presence of diversityâ obscures the âburden of convivialityâ carried by some, but not others. We discuss three key types of burden that emerged from our data: the work of education and explanation, the work of understanding racism, and quite simply the work of âappearing unremarkableâ
The burden of conviviality: British Bangladeshi Muslims navigating diversity in London, Luton and Birmingham
This article considers the convivial turn in migration and diversity studies, and some of its silences. Conviviality has been conceptualised by some as the ability to be at ease in the presence of diversity. However, insufficient attention has been paid to considering who is affectively at ease with whose differences or, more particularly, what the work of conviviality requires of those marked as other vis-a-vis European white normativity. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with British Bangladeshi Muslims in London, Luton and Birmingham, we argue that a focus on âease in the presence of diversityâ obscures the âburden of convivialityâ carried by some, but not others. We discuss three key types of burden that emerged from our data: the work of education and explanation, the work of understanding racism, and quite simply the work of âappearing unremarkableâ
The hostile environment, Brexit, and âreactiveââ or âprotective transnationalismâ
The âreactive transnationalism hypothesisâ posits a relationship between discrimination and transnational practice. The concept has generally been studied using quantitative methods, but a qualitative approach augments our understanding of two contextâspecific dimensions: the nature of the discrimination involved, and the types of transnational behaviour that might be affected. Drawing on inâdepth interviews with Bangladeshâorigin Muslims in London, Luton and Birmingham, in the UK, we demonstrate how antiâAsian and antiâMuslim racism have been conflated with intensified antiâmigrant racism in the context of âhostile environmentâ immigration policies and the EU referendum (Brexit), producing an amplification of racist discourses associated with purging the body politic of its nonâwhite bodies. The insecurity generated is altering some people's relationships to Bangladesh, incentivizing investment in land and property âback home'. While this represents an example of âreactive transnationalism', we argue that âprotective transnationalismâ might be a more appropriate way of describing the processes at work