One of the most remarkable stories of immigration in the last half century is that of Indians to the United States. People of Indian origin make up a little over one percent of the American population now, up from barely half a percent at the turn of the millennium. Not only has its recent growth been extraordinary, but this population from a developing nation with low human capital is now the most-educated and highest-income group in the world's most advanced nation. The Other One Percent is a careful, data-driven, and comprehensive account of the three core processes-selection, assimilation, and entrepreneurship-that have led to this rapid rise. This unique phenomenon is driven by-and, in turn, has influenced-wide-ranging changes, especially the on-going revolution in information technology and its impact on economic globalization, immigration policies in the U.S., higher education policies in India, and foreign policies of both nations. If the overall picture is one of economic success, the details reveal the critical issues faced by Indian immigrants stemming from the social, linguistic, and class structure in India, their professional and geographic distribution in the U.S., their pan-Indian and regional identities, their strong presence in both high-skill industries (like computers and medicine) and low-skill industries (like hospitality and retail trade), and the multi-generational challenges of a diverse group from the world's largest democracy fitting into its oldest.

Indian Diaspora in the United States takes a new perspective on the topic of brain drain, departing from the traditional literature to include discussions on brain gain and brain circulation using Indian migration to the United States as a case study. Sahay acknowledges that host country policies create the necessary conditions for brain drain to take place, but argues that source countries may also benefit from out-migration of their workers and students. These benefits are measured as remittances, investments, and savings associated with return, and social networking that links expatriates with their country of origin. Through success and visibility in host societies, diaspora workers further influence economic and political benefits for their home countries. This type of brain gain becomes an element of soft power for the source country in the long term. Indian Diaspora in the United States is a ground-breaking work that intersects economic and political issues to the dimension of migration and the concerns over brain drain. With its rigorous, connectionist approach, this book is a valuable contribution to the fields of diaspora, labor, globalization, and Indian studies.

This edited collection of essays describes the main broad streams of Asian migration and their wide geographical spread, both in terms of migrants' origins and their destinations. Evidence comes from several of the countries of South and East Asia. It shows migrants moving within their own countries; abroad but still within Asia; and overseas particularly to Britain and North America. The essays address both the subjective and objective causes of migration and some of the consequences, for the individual, the family and the migrant community both as an entity and in relation to the host society.

Global Indian Diasporas discusses the relationship between South Asian emigrants and their homeland, the reproduction of Indian culture abroad, and the role of the Indian state in reconnecting emigrants to India. Focusing on the limits of the diaspora concept, rather than its possibilities, this volume presents new historical and anthropological research on South Asian emigrants worldwide. From a comparative perspective, examples of South Asian emigrants in Suriname, Mauritius, East Africa, Canada, and the United Kingdom are deployed in order to show that in each of these regions there are South Asian emigrants who do not fit into the Indian diaspora concept—raising questions about the effectiveness of the diaspora as an academic and sociological index, and presenting new and controversial insights in diaspora issues.

The geographical diversity of the Indian diaspora has been shaped against the backdrop of the historical forces of colonialism, nationalism and neoliberal globalization. In each of these global moments, the demand for Indian workers has created the multiple global pathways of the Indian diasporas. The Routledge Handbook of the Indian Diaspora introduces readers to the contexts and histories that constitute the Indian diaspora. It brings together scholars from different parts of the globe, representing various disciplines, and covers extensive spatial and temporal terrain. Contributors draw from a variety of archives and intellectual perspectives in order to map the narratives of the Indian diaspora. The topics covered range from the history of diasporic communities, activism, identity, gender, politics, labour, policy, violence, performance, literature and branding. The handbook analyses a wide array of issues and debates and is organised in six parts: • Histories and trajectories • Diaspora and infrastructures • Cultural dynamics • Representation and identity • Politics of belonging • Networked subjectivities and transnationalism. Providing a comprehensive analysis of the diverse social, cultural and economic contexts that frame diasporic practices, this key reference work will reinvigorate discussions about the Indian diaspora, its global presence and trajectories. It will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and students interested in studying South Asia in general and the Indian diaspora in particular.

India Abroad analyzes the development of Indian diasporas in the United States and England from 1947, the year of Indian independence, to the present. Across different spheres of culture--festivals, entrepreneurial enclaves, fiction, autobiography, newspapers, music, and film--migrants have created India as a way to negotiate life in the multicultural United States and Britain. Sandhya Shukla considers how Indian diaspora has become a contact zone for various formations of identity and discourses of nation. She suggests that carefully reading the production of a diasporic sensibility, one that is not simply an outgrowth of the nation-state, helps us to conceive of multiple imaginaries, of America, England, and India, as articulated to one another. Both the connections and disconnections among peoples who see themselves as in some way Indian are brought into sharp focus by this comparativist approach. This book provides a unique combination of rich ethnographic work and textual readings to illuminate the theoretical concerns central to the growing fields of diaspora studies and transnational cultural studies. Shukla argues that the multi-sitedness of diaspora compels a rethinking of time and space in anthropology, as well as in other disciplines. Necessarily, the standpoint of global belonging and citizenship makes the boundaries of the "America" in American studies a good deal more porous. And in dialogue with South Asian studies and Asian American studies, this book situates postcolonial Indian subjectivity within migrants' transnational recastings of the meanings of race and ethnicity. Interweaving conceptual and material understandings of diaspora, India Abroad finds that in constructed Indias, we can see the contradictions of identity and nation that are central to the globalized condition in which all peoples, displaced and otherwise, live.

"Indians in America have emerged as one of the most dynamic immigrant communities in the american mosaic. This book narrates their diasporic saga covering pre-1950 stream, and two waves (post-1965, and 1980), and profiles the three generations. It examines empirically the gaps in the perceptions and priorities of the first-generation parents, their second-generation children, and the elderly. It also probes the complex relationship pattern of the emerging new indian woman in the family as well as the latent phenomenon of domestic violence. The first of its kind presenting a comprehensive account of the indian diaspora in America, this book will prove to be of great value to the Indian-American community, and to the students of diaspora with a focus on this community. So also, those interested in studying the issues of identity and cultural assimilation, immigration history, and multiculturalism will find it immensely useful."