Transnational Connections and Development Disconnections: stories from Sylhet.

Katy Gardner (Sussex)

Joint seminar with the department of anthropology

Abstract

The metaphors of connection and its antonym, disconnection are a useful framing of discussions of migration.  Indeed, a huge amount of work has been devoted to describing migration as enabled via connections in chains or networks, whilst the framing of transnationalism points directly to on-going relationships and connections between so-called ‘receiving’ and ‘sending’ countries. Yet if connections are made, these are  inevitably accompanied by disconnection, in the form of ruptured relationships, loss and the yearning for an imagined ‘home’ that has been so well described in the literature on diaspora. Drawing from recent research in Bibiyana, Bangladesh, where Chevron operate a large gas field in an area which is characterised by long term transnational migration to the UK,  I will  push the metaphor a little further,  using it to think not only about migration, but the broader processes and conditions that structure everyday struggles and opportunities in places such as Bangladesh.

Organiser: Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies/SOAS dept. of anthropology and sociology

Contact email: rg32@soas.ac.uk

Contact Tel: 0207 898 4434