Critical Caste Geographies: Mapping the intersections of law, labour, and mobility

Introduction

The South Asian diaspora in the UK and USA is estimated to be 10 million strong. The dominant images that represent this diverse community are those of “high-skilled” professionals in IT, medicine, and engineering, with a rising profile of the “model minority” diasporic South Asian politician.

Caste and Labour Relations

These images obscure a dark underbelly of the global circulation of South Asian labour facilitated by the centuries-old caste system. While the persistence of caste in shaping labour relations within the subcontinent is well-documented, the continued relevance of caste in diasporic labour relations is starkly understudied.

Legal Conflicts

In the past decade, a growing number of instances have come to light wherein the legal regimes of host countries have come into conflict with caste(d) labour practices. This has brought locally situated questions of caste oppression into direct conversation with globally legible rights-based frameworks.

Research Focus

This research project will investigate the caste dimensions of diasporic labour migrations in three sectors:

1. Construction
2. Domestic work
3. Commercial kitchens

The project will assess their impact on socio-spatial mobility at home. Through this, it will map the intersections of law, labour, and mobilities to construct a critical global geography of caste.

Research Questions

The research will address the following questions:

• How does caste shape the global circulation of South Asian labour?
• How do these labour relations relate to legal regimes in the host countries?
• How do caste(d) labour migrations relate to socio-spatial mobility at home?

Objectives

The objectives of the project are:

• To document the role of caste in diasporic labour practices
• To investigate how these labour practices relate to extant legal protections in host countries
• To explore how social mobility is facilitated and/or impeded by these caste(d) labour practices
• To archive the diasporic life of caste and disrupt dominant narratives of the South Asian diaspora
• To compile a manifesto for anti-caste jurisprudence and fair labour practices