Overview

"In the past few decades, and across disparate geographical contexts, states have adopted policies and initiatives aimed at institutionalizing relationships with ""their"" diasporas. These practices, which range from creating new ministries to granting dual citizenship, are aimed at integrating diasporas as part of a larger ""global"" nation that is connected to, and has claims on the institutional structures of the home state. Although links, both formal and informal, between diasporas and their presumptive homelands have existed in the past, the recent developments constitute a far more widespread and qualitatively different phenomenon.In this book, Latha Varadarajan theorizes this novel and largely overlooked trend by introducing the concept of the ""domestic abroad."" Varadarajan demonstrates that the remapping of the imagined boundaries of the nation, the visible surface of the phenomenon, is intrinsically connected to the political-economic transformation of the state that is typically characterized as ""neoliberalism."" The domestic abroad must therefore be understood as the product of two simultaneous, on-going processes: the diasporic re-imagining of the nation and the neoliberal restructuring of the state.The argument unfolds through a historically nuanced study of the production of the domestic abroad in India. The book traces the complex history and explains the political logic of the remarkable transition from the Indian state's guarded indifference toward its diaspora in the period after independence, to its current celebrations of the ""global Indian nation."" In doing so, The Domestic Abroad reveals the manner in which the boundaries of the nation and the extent of the authority of the state, in India and elsewhere, are dynamically shaped by the development of capitalist social relations on both global and national scales."

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9780199938650

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Reviews

In recent years, numerous scholars have undertaken analyses of diasporas in international affairs. However, few bring the theoretical innovation or conceptual sophistication that Varadarajan displays here...Varadarajan offers a rich meticulously detailed illustration of the theory...In so doing, she provides the road map for future comparative empirical applications of the theory. An absolutely essential contribution. Summing Up: Essential. --CHOICE Latha Varadarajan has written a superb book on the impact of diaspora politics and economics on the shaping of national identities and loyalties. Her writing is theoretically innovative and her treatment of the Indian case is definitive. --Yossi Shain, Romulo Betancourt Professor of Political Science, Tel Aviv University and Professor of Comparative Government and Diaspora Politics, Georgetown University Beautifully written, The Domestic Abroad skillfully focuses on the case of India and its changing relationship with 'Overseas Indians' to explore the global phenomenon of the growing involvement of states with their diasporas. Varadarajan convincingly argues that these relationships should be understood as the product of the interaction of two broad forces: the economic demands of neo-liberal restructuring and the discursive and political reconstruction of the boundaries of the nation. Impressive in its theoretical sophistication and range and convincing in its marshaling of evidence, this work sets a new standard for studies of diaspora-state relations. --Laurie A. Brand, Robert Grandford Wright Professor and Professor of International Relations, University of Southern California

<br> In recent years, numerous scholars have undertaken analyses of diasporas in international affairs. However, few bring the theoretical innovation or conceptual sophistication that Varadarajan displays here...Varadarajan offers a rich meticulously detailed illustration of the theory...In so doing, she provides the road map for future comparative empirical applications of the theory. An absolutely essential contribution. Summing Up: Essential. --CHOICE<p><br> Latha Varadarajan has written a superb book on the impact of diaspora politics and economics on the shaping of national identities and loyalties. Her writing is theoretically innovative and her treatment of the Indian case is definitive. --Yossi Shain, Romulo Betancourt Professor of Political Science, Tel Aviv University and Professor of Comparative Government and Diaspora Politics, Georgetown University<p><br> Beautifully written, The Domestic Abroad skillfully focuses on the case of India and its changing relationship with 'Overseas Indians' to explore the global phenomenon of the growing involvement of states with their diasporas. Varadarajan convincingly argues that these relationships should be understood as the product of the interaction of two broad forces: the economic demands of neo-liberal restructuring and the discursive and political reconstruction of the boundaries of the nation. Impressive in its theoretical sophistication and range and convincing in its marshaling of evidence, this work sets a new standard for studies of diaspora-state relations. --Laurie A. Brand, Robert Grandford Wright Professor and Professor of International Relations, University of Southern California<p><br>

Author Information

Latha Varadarajan is Associate Professor of Political Science at San Diego State University.

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