Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Acculturation is an important research topic for cultural anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists. Research on acculturation has on average a very limited time scope, focusing on the “here and now”. Another shortcoming in current acculturation research is the lack of comparison between immigrant groups, particularly between those originating from the same country. In this article I will outline why the Bhojpuri diaspora provides a promising field for interdisciplinary comparative acculturation research. India has a long tradition of emigration. In the first millennium CE predominantly members of high castes migrated to East Asia mainly for religious reasons. A second substantial migratory flow from India, particularly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (the Bhojpuri region) started after the abolition of slavery in the British colonies in 1834. Indians migrating as indentured labourers from the Bhojpuri region to the West Indies, British Guiana and Dutch Surinam has similar socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. Many east Indians migrated to England and the Netherlands when the West Indies and Guianas became independent states after the Second World War. I conclude with giving some examples of comparative research that have already been carried out on the Bhojpuri diaspora.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alba, R. , & Nee, V . (1997). Rethinking assimilation theory for a new era of immigration . International Migration Review, 31(4), 826–874 .

Berry, J.W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation and adaptation . Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46(1), 5–68

De Klerk, C.J.M. (1951). Cultus en ritueel van het orthodoxe hindoeïsme in Suriname. Amsterdam: Urbi et Orbi .

De Klerk, C.J.M. (1953). De immigratie der Hindostanen in Suriname. Amsterdam: Urbi et Orbi .

Dewind, J. , & Kasinitz, P . (1997). Everything old is new again? Processes and theories of immigrant incorporation . International Migration Review, 31, 1096–1111 .

Eisenstadt, S.N. (1954). The absorption of immigrants. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul .

Eldering, L. (1996). Multiculturalism and multicultural education in an international perspective . Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 27(3), 315–330 .

Eldering, L. (1999). Acculturation under stress: Female-headed Hindustani families in the Netherlands. In J.C. Lasry , J. Adair , & K. Dion (Eds), Latest contributions to cross-cultural psychology: Selected papers from the thirteenth International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 75–87). Lisse, the Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger Publishers .

Eldering, L. (2001). Hindustani immigrants in Surinam: A history of cultural reconstruction and acculturation . Paper presented at the Conference: The Indian Diaspora: Cultural Continuity and Change, Allahabad, India, 9–11 January.

10.

Eldering, L. , & Borm, J.A. (1996) Alleenstaande Hindostaanse moerders. Utrecht: Uitgeverij Jan van Arkel .

11.

Gordon, M.M. (1964). Assimilation in American life: The role of race, religion and national origins. New York: Oxford University Press .

12.

Klass, M. (1961). East Indians in Trinidad: A study of cultural persistence. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc . (1988 reissued).

13.

Klass, M. (1980). Ecology and family in two Caribbean East Indian communities. In P. Saran & E. Eames (Eds), The new ethnics: Asian Indians in the United States. New York: Praeger .

14.

Klass, M. (1991). Singing with Sai Baba: The politics of revitalization in Trinidad. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press .

15.

Meer, F. (1996). The South African Gandhi: An abstract of the speeches and writings of M.K. Gandhi, while he was in South Africa, 1893–1914. Durban: Madiba Publishers, University of Natal .

16.

Morris, H.S. (1959). The Indian family in Uganda . American Anthropoligist, LXI, 779–789 .

17.

Mungra, G. (1990). Hindoestaanse gezinnen in Nederland. Leiden: Centrum voor Onderzoek van Maatschappelijke Tegenstellingen.

18.

Rex, J. (1991). The political sociology of a multi-cultural society . European Journal of Intercultural Studies, 2(1), 7–19 .

19.

Skinner, E.P. (1955). Ethnic interaction in a British Guiana rural community: A study in secondary acculturation and group dynamics. PhD dissertation, Columbia University, New York. Ann Arbor, Michigan, University Microfilm.

20.

Smith, R. , & Jayawardena , C. (1958). Hindu marriage customs in British Guiana . Social and Economic Studies, VII, 178–194 .

21.

Speckmann, J.D. (1965). Marriage and kinship among the Indians in Surinam. Assen: Van Gorcum .

22.

Social Science Research Council (SSRC) Summer Seminar. (1954). Acculturation: An exploratory formulation . American Anthropologist, 56, 973–1002 .

23.

Triandis, H.C. (1994). Culture and social behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc .

24.

Van Den Berghe, P. (1967). Race and racism: A comparative perspective. New York: Wiley and Sons .

The Bhojpuri Diaspora

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References