Content area

Abstract

The research fundamentally challenges romanticized ideas of migration—shedding older inequalities, idealizing “leveling up,” and being a part of “unified diasporic communities”—and unmasks a rather uneasy, far more intricate reality: the preexisting sociocultural and political structures and identities are not shed, rather actively reproduced and rigorously, often consciously, reconfigured within the transnational diasporic spaces. As such, the research reveals that Nepali diasporic associations in Florida play a vital role in perpetuating and reshaping social inequalities and contested national identities, significantly impacting transnational dynamics. The work contends that caste hierarchies persist in structuring associational life, influencing participation and resource distribution. Concurrently, colorism complicates and “tints” the transnational experience, shaping new forms of stratification that affect belonging and identity. “Nepaliness” evolves as a dynamic identity, negotiated through power struggles and gatekeeper interactions, often in sentiments of home as a transnational and political idea. Through ethnographic fieldwork, the study uncovers the social dynamics and practices where these processes occur, showing how transnational associational spaces become sites for contesting and redefining social inequality and collective identity. Lastly, the research provides critical insights into the lasting influence of social structures in global contexts, complicating existing theories of transnationalism, identity, and community formations, underscoring the often-unequal social topographies of diasporic associational lives.

Details

1010268
Title
Nepaliness as Assemblage: Diasporic Belonging, Colorism, and Caste in the Associational Life of Nepali Migrants in Florida
Number of pages
179
Publication year
2025
Degree date
2025
School code
0206
Source
DAI-A 87/2(E), Dissertation Abstracts International
ISBN
9798290930213
Committee member
Kusenbach, Margarethe; Marwah, Vrinda; Patil, Vrushali
University/institution
University of South Florida
Department
Sociology
University location
United States -- Florida
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
32117342
ProQuest document ID
3236804482
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/nepaliness-as-assemblage-diasporic-belonging/docview/3236804482/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.
Database
2 databases
  • ProQuest One Academic
  • ProQuest One Academic