Indian Migration and Empire

Radhika Mongia is Associate Professor of Sociology at York University.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. The Migration of "Free" Labor: Contracting Freedom 22 2. Disciplinary Power and the Colonial State: The Bureaucracy of Migration Control 56 3. Gendered Nationalism, the Racialized State, and the Making of Migration Law: The Indian "Marriage Question" in South Africa 85 4. Race, Nationality, Mobility: A History of the Passport 112 Epilogue. In History: A Colonial Genealogy of the Modern State 141 Notes 151 Bibliography 199 Index 221

"Indian Migration and Empire presents a detailed analysis of the history of colonial Indian migration of indentured labor to Mauritius, the Caribbean, Canada, and South Africa. . . . This illuminating research makes an important contribution to the fields of colonialism, migration, and political studies. . . . Recommended. Advanced undergraduates and above." - D. A. Chekki (Choice) "Methodologically innovative and theoretically rigorous . . . Mongia has written a pathbreaking book. In the wake of this work it will no longer be possible to tell the story of border-making without a scrutiny of how human labor was dehumanized on an imperial and global scale." - Debjani Bhattacharyya (H-Diplo, H-Net Reviews) "Mongia's book is a methodological tour de force in migration studies and theories of the state. But the commendable feat of this book is that these accomplishments do not stand apart - her contribution to migration studies is enriched by the careful theorising of states, at once colonial, transcolonial and metropolitan." - Tarangini Sriraman (The Wire) "Indian Migration and Empire cautions us in the epilogue that the project of modern nation state and who belongs in such a nation state is a project still incomplete and can inflict terrible oppressions and restrictions as in the example of Iroquois/Haudenosaunee of North America. For this caution alone, this book is a must-read for all who are interested in historiography of migration and political theory." - Mithilesh Kumar (Economic and Political Weekly) "Mongia's account is a fresh, fascinating explanation of the intricacies of migration and its impact on host-countries, nation-state and bureaucratic development, and at the heart of it all, the emigrant. There has been a steady change in academia to consider a more global and cultural perspective, and this book is relevant to many scholars, including those in political science, history, sociology, women's studies, migration, Asian studies, colonial and post-colonial studies, and global issues." - Kathleen M. Davis (International Social Science Review) "Radhika Mongia's fascinating analysis of Indian migration to South Africa and its history-making aftermath is fascinatingly readable. Indian Migration and Empire certainly places Mongia among the established scholars in the field." - Tarique Niazi (Journal of International and Global Studies) "Indian Migration and Empire is a fresh and important contribution to our understanding of the modern world." - Thomas R. Metcalf (Journal of Interdisciplinary History)