Globalization, national autonomy and non‐resident Indians
2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/0958493042000209870
ISSN1469-364X
Autores Tópico(s)Indian Economic and Social Development
ResumoAbstract The Indian government's recent High Level Committee report on the Indian Diaspora estimates that almost 20 million people of Indian origin live overseas. From this significant, although diverse, collective, India receives substantial resources. The relationship between the Indian nation and these 'flexible citizens' produces complex economic, social and political expressions at multiple scales. This paper explores the socio‐economic manifestations that have emerged from the connections non‐resident Indians (NRIs) have developed with India, with a particular focus on Punjab. It argues that globalization processes have encouraged a renewed national interest with NRIs as a force to assist India to engage with the global economy. The paper suggests that, at an abstract level, the impact of this extra‐national population is positive for the economic autonomy of India, even as it engages with the global economy. However, at the regional scale, it identifies more complex and variable effects. The paper therefore draws attention to the processal effects of globalization, and the differential outcomes of these practices at multiple scales. Notes Correspondence: Margaret Walton‐Roberts, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5. E‐mail: mwalton@wlu.ca B.R. Nayar, 'Globalisation and India's national autonomy', Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol 41, No 2, 2003, pp 1–34, p 30. A. Amin and N. Thrift, 'Globalization, socio‐economics, territoriality', in R. Lee and J. Wills (eds), Geographies of Economies (London: Arnold, 1997), pp 147–157. See Nayar, op cit, Ref 1; P.F. Kelly, 'The geographies and politics of globalization', Progress in Human Geography, Vol 23, No 3, 1999, pp 379–400; and P. Dicken, J. Peck and A. Tickell, 'Unpacking the global', in Lee and Wills (eds), op cit, Ref 2, pp 158–166. See, for instance, R. Gilpin, The Challenge of Global Capitalism: The World Economy in the 21st Century (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000); B. Jessop, 'Post‐Fordism and the state', in A. Amin (ed), Post‐Fordism: A Reader (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994), pp 251–279; and C. Harvie, The Rise of Regional Europe (London: Routledge, 1994). See, for instance, Dicken et al., op cit, Ref 3, p. 160. See also P. Hirst and G. Thompson, Globalisation in Question: The International Economy and the Possibilities of Governance (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1996). R. Ray, Fields of Protest: Women's Movements in India (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1999). J. Cassels, The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993). J.M. Blaut, The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History (London: Guildford Press, 1993). See, for example, Hugh Tinker, A New System of Slavery: The Export of Indian Labour Overseas 1830–1920 (London: Oxford University Press, 1974); J.S. Mangat, A History of Asians in East Africa (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1969); and J.M. Jensen, Passage From India: Asian Indian Immigrants in North America (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988). For a more detailed discussion of the various Indian migrations over time, see M.C. Madhavan, 'Indian emigrants: numbers, characteristics, and economic impact', Population and Development Review, Vol 11, No 3, 1985, pp 457–481. Ibid. High Level Committee, Report on the Indian Diaspora at ⟨http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/⟩, accessed 21 July 2003. Following the practice of the High Level Committee Report, throughout this paper I use the term 'Diaspora' to refer to Indians overseas. However, note that Diaspora implies dispersal and an inability to return to one's homeland. I prefer the term 'transnational community' for Indian immigrants, because return to India is possible and common (even for Sikhs now that the troubles of the 1980–1990s have receded). K.S. Natarajan and V.S. Swarmy, 'Data collection systems in India', paper delivered at the International Population Conference, New Delhi, 1989. Most articles highlighting the number of Indians overseas depend upon the figures provided by other governments. See, for example, T. Abraham, 'NRI/PIO community—a perspective', at http://www.gopio.net/NRI_PIO_talk_mumbai.html; and D. Patel, 'South Asian Diasporas', Himal, December 1999, pp 16–20. M.C. Lall, India's Missed Opportunity: India's relationship with the Non Resident Indians (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001). A. Helweg, 'Indians of the professions in Australia: some theoretical and methodological considerations', Population Review, Vol 35, No 1991, pp 75–89. Deepak Nayyar, 'International labour migration from India: A Macro‐Economic Analysis', in Rashid Amjad (ed), To the Gulf and Back: Studies on the Economic Impact of Asian Labour Migration (New Delhi: International Labour Organisation, 1989), pp 95–141. Anna Lee Saxenian, Silicon Valley's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs (San Francisco, CA: Public Policy Institute of California, 1999). Lowell B. Lindsay and Bryan Christian, The Characteristics of Employers of H‐1Bs (Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of International Migration, 2000). HLC Report, press release, 8 January 2002 at ⟨http://indiandiaspora.nic.in/⟩, accessed 21 July 2003. In 1999, the Government established a NRI/PIO office connected to the Ministry of External Affairs. Most of the current NRI Affairs office's attention is directed to the Gulf States, where three million Indians, mostly from Kerala and Punjab, are employed in semi‐skilled occupations. The problems they deal with tend to be bureaucratic in nature, such as issues related to the repatriation of bodies of deceased Indians, contacting next of kin, and mediation in conflicts with employers. Interview with the deputy secretary of NRI Affairs, New Delhi, 22 February 2000. S. Corbridge, N.J. Thrift and R.L. Martin (eds), Money, Power and Space (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994). See N. Choucri, 'The hidden economy: a new view of remittances in the Arab world', World Development, Vol 14, No 6, 1986, pp 697–712; and S. Mehta, Migration, a Spatial Perspective: a Case Study of Bist Doab‐Punjab (Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 1990). See J. Connell and R. Brown, 'Migration and remittances in the South Pacific: towards new perspectives', Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, Vol 4, No 1, 1995, pp 1–34; R. Jones, 'The renewed role of remittances in the new world order', Economic Geography, Vol 74, No 1, 1998, pp 1–7; and S. Russell, 'Remittances from international migration: a review in prospective', World Development, Vol, 14, No 6, 1986, pp 677–696. See Choucri, op cit, Ref 23, p 702. Data are collected from individual countries and compiled by the IMF into tables identifying national credits and debits. The data is partial however, since some countries (such as Canada and the United Kingdom) do not register figures for worker remittances and are not represented in the tables. In addition, systems of calculation used by each state differ, making comparisons difficult. Nonetheless, the data provide one indication of the magnitude and geographical dimension of these transfers. The Reserve Bank of India collects remittance data from banks and authorized currency exchangers, and quarterly surveys are conducted to ascertain unclassified receipts. See IMF Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook (1999), p 210, Washington D.C. In the Middle East, migration is always contractual in nature. Workers' rights are limited since their status is always temporary, no matter how long they have actually been in the country. In Kuwait, migrant rights are determined by the Kafala system where the employer sponsors the migrant and takes full economic and legal responsibility for them during the contract period. This limits their freedom through various demands, such as surrendering their passport to their employer. See Anh Nga Longva, 'Keeping migrant workers in check: the Kafala system in the Gulf', Middle East Report 211, Summer 1999, pp 20–22. Indian immigrants to the United States are increasingly using the H‐1B visa, which grants three years' work (renewable for another three years) authorization to highly skilled foreign persons. Although some individuals attempt to adjust their status to that of a permanent resident at the end of their stay, there is a per‐country limit for such 'Green Card' applications. This option is certainly not available for all Indian workers. See Lowell B. Lindsay. H‐1B Temporary Workers: Estimating the Population (Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of International Migration, 2000). Kevin O'Neil, Summary Report, Discussion on Migration and Development: Using Remittances and Circular Migration as Drivers for development, Migration Policy Institute at ⟨http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/sandiegoreport.doc⟩, accessed 1 August 2003. Hirst and Thompson, op cit, Ref 5. The recent HLC Report makes a number of recommendations regarding the role of the Indian government in protecting the interests of its overseas temporary workers. RBI data on foreign exchange reserves at ⟨http://www.rbi.org.in⟩, accessed 30 July 2003. See Lall, op cit, Ref 15; and Nayar, op cit, Ref 1. The Foreign Exchange Management Act employs civil rather than criminal charges against violators, and allows convertibility of capital in the current account (but not fixed assets or capital assets such as land). See RBI at ⟨http://www.rbi.org.in⟩, accessed 21 March 2000. RBI at ⟨http://www.rbi.org.in⟩, accessed 9 July 2002. S. Sassen, Losing Control? Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), p 25. Personal interview with the vice president/manager of the Vancouver branch of the State Bank of India, Vancouver, 2 December 1998. Johanna Lessinger, 'Investing or going home? A transnational strategy among Indian immigrants in the United States', in N. Glick‐Schiller et al. (eds), Towards a Transnational Perspective on Migration: Race, Class, Ethnicity and Nationalism Reconsidered (New York: Academy of Sciences, 1992) pp 53–80. See P. Chakravartty, 'Liberalization and non resident Indians: flexible citizenship and India's information economy', in W. A. Cornelius and T. J. Espenshade (eds), The International Migration of the Highly Skilled: Demand, Supply and Development Consequence (La Jolla: University of California‐San Diego Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, 2001); Biju Mathew and Vijay Prashad, 'The protean forms of Yankee Hindutva', Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol 23, No 3, 2000, pp 516–534; and A. Rajagopal 'Hindu nationalism in the US: changing configurations of political practice', Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol 23, No 3, 2000, pp 467–496. HLC Report, op cit, Ref 12, p 5. Nina Glick‐Schiller, 'Citizens in transnational nation‐states', in P. Dicken, K. Olds, P. Kelly, L. Kong and H. Yeung (eds), Globalization and the Asia Pacific: Contested Territories (London: Routledge, 1999), p 211. Personal interview, Delhi, 9 November 1999. The gendering of NRI discourse is a powerful reminder of the inherent chauvinism that circulates through these debates. Indeed, the limited discussion about NRIs and gender issues is focused on cases of marital fraud and victimization, with little agency accorded to women. See M. Walton‐Roberts, 'Rescaling citizenship: gendering canadian immigration policy', Political Geography, Vol 23, No 3, 2004, pp 265–281. This pseudo‐citizenship was ascribed validity for 20 years and costs US$1000. See Indian Government press note delivered in New Delhi, 30 March 1999, see http://iic.nic.piocard,htm#pn, accessed 30 March 2004. There are certain proposed restrictions, but the countries considered are Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Finland, Ireland, The Netherlands and Italy. See 'India grants dual citizenship to NRIs: Canada is among eight nations singled out by India for granting dual citizenship to its expatriates with a number of restrictions', The Link at ⟨http://www.thelinkpaper.ca/index.htm⟩, accessed 21 July 2003. P.J. Spiro, Embracing Dual Nationality (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace International Migration Policy, 2000). Aihwa Ong, Flexible Citizenship: The Cultural Logics of Transnationality (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999). HLC Report, op cit, Ref 12, p 21. Rajagopal, op cit, Ref 39, p 489. HLC Report, op cit, Ref 12, p 7. This seems incongruent considering the earlier role of the Akali Dal in searching for separation, but the alliance represents a pragmatic arrangement that allows both an opportunity to advance their political ambitions. See Gurharpal Singh, 'India's Akali–BJP alliance: the 1977 Legislative Assembly Elections', Asian Survey, Vol 38, No 4, 1998, pp 398–409. Ibid, p 399. Joyce Pettigrew, 'Betrayal and nation‐building among the Sikhs', The Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol 29, No 1, 1991, pp 25–43. See T.G. Kessinger, Vilyatpur, 1848–1968: Social and Economic Change in a North Indian Village (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974); R. Fox, Lions of the Punjab: Culture in the Making (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985); and H. Johnston, The East Indians in Canada (Ottawa: Ethnic Groups: Canadian Historical Association, 1984). During fieldwork in 1999–2000 in Doaba, I was advised that these rates are common. See M. Walton‐Roberts, 'Returning, remitting, reshaping: non‐resident Indians and the transformation of society and space in Punjab, India', Working Paper Series #01‐15 (Vancouver: Centre of Excellence Research on Immigration and Integration in the Metropolis, August 2001). Personal e‐mail communication with the NRI Sabha in Jalandhar, 19 April 2000. Interviews with Deputy District Commissioner Vijoy Kumar Singh, Kapurthala, 24 November 2000; and Satnam Manak, editor of Ajit Samachar, Jalandhar, 29 November 1999. HLC Report, op cit, Ref 12, pp 541–542. A crore is an Indian numerical term for 10,000,000. Personal interview with Dhesian Kahna, manager of the Canara Bank, District Jalandhar, 27 January 2000. A lakh is an Indian numerical term for 100,000. Interviews with the branch manager of the State Bank of India, NRI Branch, Phagwara, and the owner of Bhandari's authorized money changer, Phagwara, 28 November 1999. See Mehta, op cit, Ref 23; and Walton‐Roberts 2001, op cit, Ref 55. Discussions with one middle‐class immigrant family in Patiala in February 2000 indicate that bartering financial exchanges with other transnational families with interests in both Punjab and Canada was common. Interview with Deputy District Commissioner, Karpurthala, 24 November 1999. B.K. Axel, The Nation's Tortured Body: Violence, Representation, and the Formation of the Sikh Diaspora (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001). See D.S. Tatla, The Sikh Diaspora: The Search for Statehood (London: University College London Press, 1999); and W. Unna, Sikhs Abroad (Calcutta: Statesman Commercial Press, 1985). Canadian Security Intelligence Service documents suggest that the country was used 'as a base to arrange and direct terrorist activities in other countries … This is a particular problem with some members of Sikh terrorist groups whose leaders continue to endeavour to use Canada as their headquarters'. See Kim Bolan, 'Probe Sikh temples' finances, leader says', Vancouver Sun, 4 July 2000, p B1. Personal interview with the Under Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi, 21 February 2000. See also Tatla, op cit, Ref 67. H. Puri, P.S. Judge and J.S. Sekhon, Terrorism in Punjab: Understanding Grassroots Reality (New Delhi: Har‐Ananad Publications, 1999). Also, in conversations with NRIs and residents in Doaba during fieldwork in 1999–2000, several cases of conflict over property or matrimony between NRIs and others led to false information being provided to the Indian government and to the Canadian or British High Commissions. See Walton‐Roberts, 'Transnational Geographies: Indian Immigration to Canada', The Canadian Geographer, Vol 47, No 3, pp 235–250. K. Bolan, 'India to review visa blacklist', Vancouver Sun, 8 January 2001, p B5 Interviews with the respective editors of Voice of Today, Press Trust of India, Ajit Samachar and Ajeet, Jalandhar, 27–29 November 1999. The second largest area of concern linked to NRIs was the incidence of marital fraud. Field notes from an interview with Professor Balram Vaid, Phagwara, 4 December 1999. Similar observations have been made with regard to changes in dowry. See W. Menski (ed), South Asians and The Dowry Problem (Stoke‐on‐Trent: Trentham Books, 1998). Interview with Deputy District Commissioner, Kapurthala, 24 November 1999. Interview with the District Commissioner of Hoshiarpur and Giani Resham Hayre (president of the NRI Sabha in 2000), 19 February 2000. J. Pettigrew, 'Betrayal and nation‐building among the Sikhs', The Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol 29, No 1, 1991, pp 25–43. B.R. Nayar, 'Opening up and openness of Indian Economy', Economic and Political Weekly, 15 September 2001, pp 3527–3535. HLC Report, op cit, Ref 12, p 544. Additional informationNotes on contributorsMargaret Walton‐Roberts Footnote Correspondence: Margaret Walton‐Roberts, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, 75 University Avenue, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5. E‐mail: mwalton@wlu.ca
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