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ABSTRACT
Ethnic communities constantly fear of being stripped of their cultural identities, which intern their preference of shying away from settling in slums. The difficulty arises from the highly contingent conceptualization of ‘slum’, as an agglomerate of poor seeking income. The paper investigates paradox of identity embedded in insecurities among ethnic migrants who lack recognition by the state and society. Data was collected using observation, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. Constant comparative method (CCM) together with thematic sampling was used for data analysis. The finding suggests that alienation of ethnic migrants is a consequence of constant negotiation of their identity in response to ‘self-society-State’. It recommends slum to retain independent social space for ethnic community and society in a composite culture. To overcome the challenges of identity, income, and insecurity among ethnic migrants, the paper proposes a convergence model to integrate co-existence of multiple identities for public entitlements, welfare, and social acceptance.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. For more on identity construction and transformation process in migration read Barbera, M.C Identity and Migration 1–14.
2. To understand how different perspective on how migration pose a global governance problem, see Munck “Globalization Governance and Migration,” 1227–1246.
3. Climate Change and flood are critical factor resulting in reducing resilience, see Ranger, Hallegatte, Bhattacharya, Bachu, Priya and Dhore “A Preliminary Assessment of the Potential Impact of Climate Change on Flood Risk in Mumbai,” 139–167.
4. To understand how multiple shocks arise in the life of a slum dweller, see Harriss-White, Olsen, Vera-Sanso and Suresh “Multiple shocks and slum household economies in South India,” 400–431.
5. To have an holistic understanding of constraints of migrants, see Harriss-White, Olsen, Vera-Sanso and Suresh “Multiple shocks and slum household economies in South India,” 400–431.
6. Being in capital in a gated community see Dupont, “Secured residential enclaves in the Delhi region,” 227–236.
7. To understand the demographic challenges of migration, see King, “Geography and Migration Studies,” 134–153.
8. To understand the anthropological and sociological explanation of identity as multilayer phenomena, see Owens, Robinson and Smith-Lovin, “Three Faces of Identity,” 477–499.
9. Migration lives in narratives that crystallize emotions and identity formation, see for details Gomez-Estern, “Narratives of migration,” 348–368.
10. Does migration has a potential to redefine the map? Read for details King, “Towards a New Map of European Migration,” 89–106.
11. One of the most important factors to build resilience among the society is prevalence of social capital, read for details Putnam, “Bowling alone,” 2000.
12. Multiple identities co-exists in a society, for details on construction identity in a plural society, read Sanders, “Ethnic Boundaries and Identity in Plural Societies,” 327–357.
13. Understanding overall wellbeing with a perspective of Human development and migration, see Deshingkar and Sandi, “Migration and Human Development in India,” 2011.
14. How distress, identity and migration impacts health of the society, see Bhugra, “Migration, distress and cultural identity,” 129–141.
15. To understand livelihoods of a traditional migrant community with a historical background, see for details Haan, “Migration and Livelihoods in Historical Perspective,” 115–142.
16. International migration has become an important discourse with climate change and global governance framework, very little is studied on the challenges of ethnic community on migration, see for details Barbera, “Identity and Migration,” 1–14.
17. Though Slum was target in Millennium Development Goal, it also features importantly in SDGs, very little is done to overcome challenge in sustainable manner. Slum is still limited to urban problem, see for details Muzio, “Governing Global Slums,” 305–326.
18. While urbanisation is critical for the growth of the nation, it also evolves need and opportunity for slum, see for details Ooi and Phua, “Urbanization and Slum Formation,” 27–34.
19. To read the overall development and future challenges of slum, see UN Habitat, “Slum Almanac:Tracking Improvement in the Lives of Slum Dwellers.”
20. Is modern urban governance prepared to host and are migrants prepared to adjust in a different environment. To understand the challenges associated with its rise, see Myers, “Environmental Refugees,” 2002.
21. To understand how climate change in rural stressed community creates an extra burden on the migrants, see Hunter, “Climate Change, Rural Vulnerability and Migration,” 2007.
22. A migrant in a megacity faces dual problems of urbanisation and climate change, see for details DePaul, “Climate Change, Migration, and Megacities,” 145–162.
23. For details the current status of population as per government, see “Statistical Abstract of Delhi,” 2014.
24. For understanding what are the policy challenges of integrating migrants, read Abbas and Varma, “Internal Labor Migration in India Raises Integration Challenges for Migrants,” 2014.
25. To understand macro pace and pattern of migration based on large scale sample of census, read Taralekar, “Study to Assess Pattern of Migration across India Based on Census Data,” 74–77.
26. For data on slum situation in India, see “Slums in India,” 2011.
27. For pattern and status of population and its health, see “Census of India,” 2011.
28. To design qualitative study, see Boeije, “Purposeful Approach to the Constant Comparative,” 391–409.
29. To understand the data analysis of qualitative information, see LeCompte, “Analyzing Qualitative Data,” 146–154.
30. Migrants irrespective of rich or poor are victims of exclusion, though the effect of exclusion are more harsh on the poor, to understand the inclusion process and its challenges read Marina and Rukmini, “Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India Internal Migration in India Initiative,” 2013.
31. Though public provision is critical for a poor migrant, to understand why do ethnic migrant fail or are unable to access and utilise public provision see Habyarimana, “Why Does Ethnic Diversity Undermine Public Goods Provision,” 709–725.
32. To understand the role of government, see Sharma and Sita, “Cities, Slums and Government,” 3733–3735.
33. What push migrants into vulnerability is exclusion, for details Kundu, “Migration and Exclusionary Urbanisation in India,” 219–227.
34. Migration is a global inevitable phenomenon, to understand the challenges associated with human development among the migrant, see UNDP, “Mobility and Migration,” 2010.
35. To understand the marginalization in city, see Mosse and Gupta, “On the margins in the city,” 3025–3038.
36. For details on National Capital of Delhi see “Statistical Abstract of Delhi,” 2014.
37. To understand regional spatial development and its consequences on migrants, see Zhu, “The Floating Population’s Household Strategies and the Role of Migration in China’s Regional Development and Integration,” 485–502.
38. To understand socio-religious and political factors in the European context, read Barbera, “Identity and Migration,” 1–14.
39. To understand wider perspective behind inclusion, development and migration in India see Marina and Rukmini, “Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India Internal Migration in India Initiative,” 2013.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Avanish Kumar
Avanish Kumar is a Professor of Public Policy and Governance at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India. He obtained his PhD and MPhil from the University of Delhi, Delhi, and MSc and BSc in Anthropology from HansRaj College, University of Delhi, Delhi.
Prof. Kumar explores questions at the intersection of policies and practice that promote sustainability, inclusion and participation in organisations and society. In his over two decades of experience, he brings experience of working with NGOs, government, corporate houses and academic institutions. Prof. Kumar work revolves around mainstreaming marginalised through citizen centric governance, sustainable models of rural livelihoods/social entrepreneurship and designing corporate social responsible practices to promote sustainable partnership between company-community for long term solutions. The common endeavour in his work is to create operational directions/solutions to real-world problems by bridging theoretical and conceptual understanding in the field. His current research interest is to establish interplay between identity, income and insecurity in the context of empowerment.