Unpacking the (Diasporic) Nation: The Regionalized and Religious Identities of the ‘Indian’ Diaspora

Abstract

Since the turn of the century the diaspora has become a fixed item on India’s development agenda, moving from an object of historical and cultural marginality to a vital economic and political actor that the Indian government can utilize to enhance national interests. This chapter assesses diaspora engagement in the case of India by problematizing the very idea of an “Indian” diaspora. The chapter maintains that in order to appropriately conceptualize how and why national governments interact with their diasporas, it is necessary to challenge an undifferentiated view of the diaspora as merely an extension of some singular national unit, when in fact the more salient social, economic and political diaspora processes are nested at other scales and sources of affiliation and are mediated through different axes and intersections of identity. This approach suggests that we understand diaspora as a continuum running from essentialized to fluid. In this chapter we highlight some important issues that contribute to the fluid and flexible dimensions of diaspora because this aspect of diasporas has not been given significant attention within the diaspora-development debate. These distinctions are relevant to policy effectiveness in diaspora engagement.