Twice Migrated, Twice Displaced

Book excerpt: Twice Migrated, Twice Displaced explores the lives of Gulf South Asians who arrived in the Greater Toronto Area from India and Pakistan via Persian Gulf countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Tania Das Gupta reveals the multiple migration patterns of this unique group, analyzing themes such as gender, racial, and religious discrimination; class mobility; the formation of transnational families; and identities in a post-9/11 context. Twice Migrated, Twice Displaced concludes that neoliberal economies in South Asia, the Gulf, and Canada create conditions for flexible labour by privatizing and diminishing social welfare. As migrants then search for employment, families are split across borders – making those relationships more precarious. The ambivalent, hybrid identities that result have implications for Canada in terms of community building, diaspora, citizenship, and migrants’ sense of belonging.