Cultivating Flexible Citizens: Migration and Parenting among Indian American Returnees

• In Event: 1284 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Migrant Racial/Ethnic Identity

Abstract

Using data from interviews with 20 Indian Americans currently residing in Bangalore, a city in southwest India, this article examines why return migrants to the subcontinent view India as a good place to raise their children. Building upon research related to ethno-racial identity, capital, and flexible citizenship, this article discusses relatively affluent, Indian Americans’ attempts at giving their children a sense of their cultural identity and the skills necessary to be competitive in the global economy. The article illustrates how return migrants use migration to their country of origin as a tool to cultivate cosmopolitan competencies amongst their children so that they can competently study, work, and live anywhere in the world. By doing so it demonstrates how return migrant parents can use the migration process as an important parenting tool that may enhance the educational and professional outcomes of their children.

Author

• Adrienne Lee Atterberry, Syracuse University