Migrant warriors and transnational lives: constructing a Gurkha diaspora

The Nepalese Gurkhas have often been regarded as brave warriors in the scheme of British military recruitment since the 1800s. Today, their descendants have settled in various parts of South East and South Asia. How can one conceive of a Gurkha diaspora, and what are the Gurkhas and their families&#...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEthnic and racial studies Vol. 39; no. 5; pp. 840 - 857
Main Author Low, Kelvin E. Y.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 08.04.2016
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Subjects
Armed forces
belonging
Consciousness
Diaspora
Ethnic studies
Gurkhas
Identity
methodological transnationalism
Migrants
Migration
Military service
Recruitment
Transnationalism
South Asia
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Summary:The Nepalese Gurkhas have often been regarded as brave warriors in the scheme of British military recruitment since the 1800s. Today, their descendants have settled in various parts of South East and South Asia. How can one conceive of a Gurkha diaspora, and what are the Gurkhas and their families' experiences of belonging in relation to varied migratory routes? This paper locates Gurkhas as migrants by deliberating upon the connection between military service and migration paths. I employ the lens of methodological transnationalism to elucidate how the Gurkha diaspora is both constructed and experienced. Diasporic consciousness and formation undergo modification alongside subsequent cycles of migration for different members of a diaspora. The article thus evaluates the transnational lives of migrants, and how these are connected to re-territorialized dimensions of identity and belonging.
ISSN:0141-9870
1466-4356
DOI:10.1080/01419870.2015.1080377