Transnational actions of Indian migrants in Germany

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Carsten Butsch
• Subject Area: Human Geography
• Term: from 2014 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 263279262

The project is concerned with the transnational networks of Indian migrants in Germany. Taking the Indian community in Germany as an example the relations between Indian migrants in Germany, their places of origin and the Indian diaspora in other countries are investigated. Focus of the project are the transformation processes triggered by the actions of transnational migrants at different places. As potential causes of these transformation processes the project analyses: (1) the relevance of transnational social relations, their importance for chain migration processes, the exchange of information financial values, social norms etc., (2) the construction of identity by transnational migrants, models of simultaneous embeddedness in different socio-cultural contexts and the connected question of citizenship, (3) paths of capital within the transnational networks, the utilisation of remittances and the relevance of non financial support as well as (4) the political engagement of transnational Indian migrants, the diaspora politics of the Indian government and the impact of German immigration politics. The study will be designed as a multi sited field study, which is not limited to specific research sites but follows the paths and networks of transnational migrants. The study will apply a multi method research (MMR) design combining the strengths of different research methods. Through sequential integration of different methods an adaptation and specification of data collection tools will be ensured. The project contributes on a conceptual level to further substantiate the transnationalism concept. The empirical outcome will be a detailed study of the migration systems of the Indian community in Germany will, on which so far only few publications are available. Of special interest are the so far hardly researched triadic relationships within the community, to India and to the Indian diaspora globally.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants