Writing the City in British Asian Diasporas

This book revisits the study of South Asians in Britain and beyond. It looks at the concept of diaspora by probing the ways in which the South Asian diaspora could be re-conceptualised as comprising communities whose identity, on both individual and collective levels, is grounded in a sense of rooted and connected locations that do not necessarily privilege the homeland. The meaning and importance of the local, multi-local and trans-local is explored through a comparison of five British-Asian cities, with ‘the local’ speaking simultaneously to precise regions people have migrated to and from. The various contributions show awareness of ‘multi-locality’ – being at once connected ‘here’ and ‘there’ – as well as attention to ongoing ‘multi-local’ circulations and networks, captures the divergent flow of experiences, cultural capital and mobilising energies of particular Asian groups in Britain. At the same time, the influence of translocal forces and imaginaries, such as pan-Islamism, which are deconstructing the very idea of a ‘South Asian diaspora’ in Britain is acknowledged. The book provides an innovative analysis of the growing South Asian communities and their multi-local identities in Britain today.