From Hyderabad to the Gulf: A Journey of Social Mobility Across Generations

Abstract

This article examines intergenerational social mobility among Hyderabadi Muslim families through the lens of Gulf migration, focusing on occupational changes, shifting consumption patterns, marriage alliances, and residential mobility. Drawing on recent migration patterns that began in the 1970s and continue today, the study highlights how economic aspirations and the demand for labour in the Persian Gulf have propelled both skilled and unskilled migrants from Hyderabad into transnational labour circuits. Through remittances and long-term exposure to Gulf economies, migrants have reshaped not only their family structures and economic status but also the socio-spatial fabric of Hyderabad, with noticeable relocations from the traditional old city to affluent areas like Banjara Hills and Cyberabad. The article argues that while many families exhibit upward mobility across generations, this progression is non-linear and complex, marked by divergent occupational outcomes within the same household. The article addresses broader questions of how migration influences everyday life, lifestyle disparities between migrants and non-migrants, and the transformation of urban neighbourhoods through remittance-fuelled investment and aspiration by using qualitative research methods with twenty-three Muslim migrant families in Hyderabad.