The In-Betweens: A Study Of The Quality Of Life Of Selfemployed North-Eastern Migrants In Kolkata

Abstract

At a time when India‘s economy is at a stand-off with her democratic foundations, the country sees mixed signals from international standings as opposed to domestic conditions. With the advent of the globalised age, the increased mobility of goods and services across borders provides a sleek opportunity for increased migration, especially in the informal sector (Sassen 1994). This is in addition to the fact that migration takes place as a consequence of unequal development on the one hand and natural disasters on the other. The discourse surrounding the governance of this migrating population is vast, and yet, there has been little to no addition to the scientific depository in terms of comprehensive policy frameworks for the same. India‘s diversity, both economically and culturally, has always been in the spotlight for being a hotspot for migration. There is a clear dichotomy visible in internal migration in contemporary India. On the one hand, it has truly opened up economic opportunities for several who are at a position to utilise the neo-liberal agenda. On the other hand, migration has undoubtedly been both the result of and an instrument to enhance poverty and state exploitation of its subjects. With the rise of populist politics, Indian migrants in other parts of India are seen as foreigners – a direct consequence of anti-migrant, chauvinist and nativist attitudes of the people. With increased fluidity of labour across state borders, several Indian states have witnessed public outcry over the magnitude of the ‗sons of the soil‘ phenomenon. The opening up of state borders to people who belong to a completely different linguistic, religious, social or cultural origin has, in a way, solidified the very sentiments against this openness. Against this context of a diverse cultural identity and the unique nature of selfemployment, India‘s exclusive character opens up an entire opportunity for scholars to delve into the matter of social security for migrant workers, juxtaposed against technological advancements, especially in the age of neo-liberal hyper-nationalism and this is what this study will seek to achieve. A part of this study was published in the Calcutta Research Group–Rosa Luxemborg Stiftung’s Occasional Paper Series, Policies and Practices Issue 111, December 2019 under the title ‘The In-Betweens: An Enquiry into the Quality of Life of Self-Employed Migrants in Kolkata.