Rajan, Irudaya, ed. Indian Migration Report 2016: Gulf Migration.

New York:
Routledge, 2017. (Shareena Banu C.P., Chapter 2)

This chapter finds that the phenomenon of Indian migration to the Gulf regions has
consolidated gendered expectations of the household division of labor in ways that
are causing familial problems on a societal scale to emerge. The author is writing
with the prevalent neoliberal atmosphere of economic policy in mind which along
with it has brought ethical dilemmas of human rights for transient and guest
workforces. More specifically, the population category of non-resident Keralites
(NRKs) is given attention for their modes of familial organization when predominantly
male breadwinners have left behind their wives and children (24). The transnational
household or global household is emerging as an interesting empirical site of study
for the micro effects of neoliberal governmentality that translate into broader norms.
The author notes that while an extremely small section of wealthy non-resident
Indians do achieve significant socioeconomic mobility, the vast majority of lower-
income migrant workers are straddled in multiple situations of legal precarity and
economic uncertainty (28). Developmental discourse in the Kerala model has by and
large not challenged the underlying cultural expectations of gendered conduct, by
implication reinforcing the notion of an ideal new modern womanhood as a highly-
educated domestic manager.

Rajan, S. Irudaya, ed. The Indian Migrations Reader. New York: Routledge, 2017.

Rajan, S. Irudaya, ed. South Asia Migration Report 2020. Exploitation,

Entrepreneurship and Engagement. New York: Routledge, 2021. (Introduction)

This comprehensive volume contains 10 chapters authored by 22

contributors, who together cover the three main themes of exploitation,
entrepreneurship and engagement in both the sending and receiving countries of
migrants. In our current period, one of the most pressing migration issues is that of
climate change-induced displacement in the South Asian context which has resulted
in what has also been called climate refugees. Rajan Irudaya’s introductory chapter
lays out the general state of migration statistics on South Asia and the need for
better counting measures. In 2017, India was the largest source of outward migration
in South Asia, accounting for 17 million (1). Thereafter was Bangladesh at 7 million
followed by Pakistan at 6 million. Upwards of 90% of these migrants are employed in
the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This chapter finds that Kerala state
has the most well-developed and robust migration counts existing since the 1990s,
and that most of the rest of India has only recently come to the practice of collecting
data on migration flows which are still at an infancy stage (14-16). The two formal
bodies in-charge are the Overseas Employment Division and the Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA) who each maintain databases on Indian emigrants. However the
MEA’s counting is capped at regional levels and does not include any specifics on
Indian migrant workers in different countries and their employment sectors, which is
a huge obstacle to overcoming illegal migration. No doubt this lack of documentation
is a hindrance to migration scholars interested in local level, even informal, patterns
of migration. The India Migration Survey 2022 will be a huge development to look out
for, since this national level survey with a budget of USD 1.2 billion is expected to be
one of the most extensive responses to a global call for more quantitative
documentations in Indian migration studies (18). For the author, the stark disparity in
the proportion of migrant remittances being spent on this project is perhaps a
reflection of the state’s general “uncaring” attitude towards this workforce (20).