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American Karma: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Indian Diaspora
Contributor(s): Bhatia, Sunil (Author)
ISBN: 0814799590     ISBN-13: 9780814799598
Publisher: New York University Press
OUR PRICE:   $30.40  
Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats
Published: August 2007
Qty:
Annotation: "In this comprehensive and important piece of scholarship, Bhatia effectively blends identity theory and ethnography to examine the immigrant experience of first-generation, professional Indians. Provoking reflection on the racial dynamics and identity politics of American society, this work goes a long way towards humanizing what it means to be an immigrant in the United States."
-- Cynthia Lightfoot, Penn State University Delaware County

The Indian-American community is one of the fastest growing immigrant communities in the U.S. Unlike previous generations, they are marked by a high degree of training as medical doctors, engineers, scientists, and university professors.

American Karma draws on participant observation and in-depth interviews to explore how these highly skilled professionals have been inserted into the racial dynamics of American society and transformed into "people of color." Focusing on first-generation, middle-class Indians in American suburbia, it also sheds light on how these transnational immigrants themselves come to understand and negotiate their identities.

Bhatia forcefully contends that to fully understand migrant identity and cultural formation it is essential that psychologists and others think of selfhood as firmly intertwined with socio-cultural factors such as colonialism, gender, language, immigration, and race-based immigration laws.

American Karma offers a new framework for thinking about the construction of selfhood and identity in the context of immigration. This innovative approach advances the field of psychology by incorporating critical issues related to the concept of culture, including race, power, and conflict, and willalso provide key insights to those in anthropology, sociology, human development, and migrant studies.
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies - Asian American Studies
- Psychology | Ethnopsychology
- Social Science | Emigration & Immigration
Dewey: 305.800
LCCN: 2007007864
Series: Qualitative Studies in Psychology (Paperback)
Physical Information: 0.69" H x 6.09" W x 8.88" (0.89 lbs) 270 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - Indian
- Ethnic Orientation - Indian
- Ethnic Orientation - Asian
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

The Indian American community is one of the fastest growing immigrant communities in the U.S. Unlike previous generations, they are marked by a high degree of training as medical doctors, engineers, scientists, and university professors.
American Karma draws on participant observation and in-depth interviews to explore how these highly skilled professionals have been inserted into the racial dynamics of American society and transformed into "people of color." Focusing on first-generation, middle-class Indians in American suburbia, it also sheds light on how these transnational immigrants themselves come to understand and negotiate their identities.
Bhatia forcefully contends that to fully understand migrant identity and cultural formation it is essential that psychologists and others think of selfhood as firmly intertwined with sociocultural factors such as colonialism, gender, language, immigration, and race-based immigration laws.
American Karma offers a new framework for thinking about the construction of selfhood and identity in the context of immigration. This innovative approach advances the field of psychology by incorporating critical issues related to the concept of culture, including race, power, and conflict, and will also provide key insights to those in anthropology, sociology, human development, and migrant studies.

Contributor Bio(s): Bhatia, Sunil: - Sunil Bhatia is Associate Professor of Human Development at Connecticut College.