Mumbai University research on Indian diaspora

University of Mumbai students, who are researching on the Indian diaspora, will have a bank of ready-to-use resource material soon. The university’s Group for Research on Indian Diaspora (GRID), with senior professors from sociology, literature, philosophy and other departments, has been formed to do extensive studies on the topic.

With diaspora studies emerging as a serious field of knowledge, the GRID is also planning to propose starting a new paper at the masters level in the subject.

“The two focal areas of research include the study of our diaspora in South Africa and Mauritius. A study is also conducted on diasporic Indian literature in English,” said Kanchan Mahadevan, associate professor from the department of philosophy. Professor Kamala Ganesh, head of the department of sociology, was responsible for bringing the team together.

The economic angle of the diaspora will be analysed in terms of the impact of diasporic Indians on the South African economy. Some of the factors that are also considered are foreign direct investments, diaspora direct investment, diaspora tourism, real estate deals, employment potential and the volume of migration.

It also formed a series of lectures pertaining to the diaspora. The research work on different projects would be out by next year.
According to Mahadevan, modules on the Indian diaspora are available in different faculties. But a masters’ paper is the need of the hour.