Identity and ambivalence in everyday transnationalism: older-aged Gujaratis in London

ABSTRACT

This article analyses questions of belonging amongst elderly Gujaratis who live in North London but maintain connections with India and East Africa. Belonging, which encompasses both the sense and practices of belonging, is a useful concept for analysing identity-related matters. This research argues that identity and belonging are important for subjective and emotional well-being in old age. This target group practises belonging locally and through transnational mobility, which follows an annual rhythm. However, increasing bodily frailty related to ageing reduces this mobility. Moreover, this article examines belonging-related ambivalences that arise in old age and that stem from dislocation experiences and contradictions that individuals encounter when confronting racialised and patriarchal social structures. In conclusion, the article calls for the integration of older individuals’ experiences into the mainstream identity and belonging research.

KEYWORDS:

• Belonging
• identity
• ageing
• migration
• older age
• Gujaratis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. This is not to suggest that the literature has completely overlooked questions of identity and belonging; take, for instance, Gardner’s (2002) important work on Bengali elders in London; Zontini’s (2015) research on Italian ageing migrants; and many of the chapters published by Walsh and Näre (2016).