Leaving the Land Indigenous Migration and Affective Labour in India

During the last decade, indigenous youth from Northeast India have migrated in large numbers to the main cities of metropolitan India to find work and study. This migration is facilitated by new work opportunities in the hospitality sector, mainly as service personnel in luxury hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and airlines. Prolonged armed conflicts, militarization, a stagnant economy, corrupt and ineffective governance structures, and the harsh conditions of subsistence agriculture in their home villages or small towns impel the youth to seek future prospects outside their home region. English language skills, a general cosmopolitan outlook as well as a non-Indian physical appearance have proven to be key assets in securing work within the new hospitality industry. Leaving the Land traces the migratory journeys of these youths and engage with their new lives in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram.

Acknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Wayfinding; 2. Light skin and soft skills; 3. Departures and returns; 4. Interlude; 5. Dreams and desserts; 6. Talking about method; Conclusion; Afterword; References; Index.

Dolly Kikon teaches at the School of Social and Political Sciences, the University of Melbourne. Her research focusses on the political economy of extractive resources, development initiatives, gender relations, customary law, and human rights in Northeast India. Apart from publishing with various journals, she has also authored Life and Dignity: Testimonies of Sexual Violence in Dimapur (Nagaland) (2015).
Bengt G. Karlsson is Professor of Anthropology at Stockholms Universitet. He has been a committee member of the Swedish Research Council and is a working member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. His research and work addresses the larger issues of society–environment interface, with particular focus on the politics of ethnicity and environment in India. Apart from publishing with various journals and contributing in edited volumes, he has also authored Unruly Hills: A political Ecology of India's Northeast (2011).