Findings and Achievements
HOME AND AWAY: EXPERIENCES AND REPRESENTATIONS OF TRANSNATIONAL SOUTH ASIAN CHILDREN
See also:
Small Grants
Networks and Workshops
Large Grants
HOME AND AWAY: EXPERIENCES AND REPRESENTATIONS OF TRANSNATIONAL SOUTH ASIAN CHILDREN
Professor Katy Gardner
Dr Kanwal Mand; Dr Benjamin Zeitlyn
FINDINGS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
- The project set out to investigate a much neglected area in the study of diasporic and / or transnational populations: children. By focussing upon South Asian (largely Bangladeshi) children in London, the aim was to produce two linked case studies of these children's experiences and representations of transnational places and relationships which would contribute to theories of transnational migration, the understanding of place and space, and, by working with arts based methodologies, to the design of new research methods for Migration Studies.
- The project aimed to bring children to the fore as a significant group in migration research. Through detailed ethnographic research on British Bangladeshi children in London and Bangladesh two case studies of transnational children would be produced. Through the study of children, questions of embodiment and emotion are raised, and we gain insights into the way in which places and spaces are imagined, configured and produced via family relationships. Studying children also shows how transnationalism is an ever changing process, with children playing important roles in making (and unmaking) transnational links. The research has shown how children's cultural work has led to new imaginings of transnational relationships across space. The children's role as vibrant producers of culture is evident in their stories and art work.
- A major focus of the edited journal, 'Through children's eyes' was to develop innovative understandings of transnational migration by theorising its relationship to the life course and to generation. By considering childhood new understandings of diaspora and transnationalism become possible, for children focus on the future, rather than the past. Moreover, children actively create and change the nature of transnationalism, both via their relationships to people and things in different places within transnational space.
- Collaborative relationships with arts and community groups were built via the exhibition at the Museum of Childhood, working with local artists (Amanda Benson, Mohammed Ali and Leiticia Valverdes at Iniva), working with three primary schools in London, the discussion group 'The Brick Lane Circle' and Islington Education Authority. Spaces in which children's voices can be heard and communicated to their communities and the wider public, were created through the exhibition, the edited books of stories and our contribution to the Bangla Stories website.
- Additional achievements include the stories, pictures, photographs and other art work which were personal and group achievements for the children and schools involved. The research process gave children (often from very deprived backgrounds) a sense of self, or 'voice'. The research process, both in the schools and 'at home' helped children and their families formulate and celebrate their experiences of transnationalism and their cultural identities. Zeitlyn helped gain funding for English, computer and dressmaking classes for Bangladeshi mothers and taught after school classes for both children and parents. Several of the participants of these classes are now undertaking NVQs at a local college. He also held a series of meetings and participated in on-going dialogue with the Islington Education Authority about the educational needs of Bangladeshi children and their families. He also advised the Education Authority on the role of religious education, parents and extra curricular activities in the children’s education. These activities gained recognition in Islington Education’s newsletter due to the dramatic improvements in Bangladeshi attainment in the school where the activities took place. The research gained a global audience, probably of millions. This was achieved via a BBC News website article and a news item on the diasporic Television station, S Channel, which is watched widely by Bangladeshis in the U.K and across Europe. The research was also featured in 'East End Life', (Tower Hamlets Council) and on HERO, the National Higher Education website.
- The project has made a major contribution to the study of transnational children, a field which until recently has been sorely neglected in migration / disapora studies. Whilst there is a growing body of work on 'migrant children' (which largely focuses on independent child migrants) and on 'the second generation' (which largely focuses on issues of cultural integration amongst 'immigrant communities) to date there has been very little research on children who are part of established transnational populations, in which family members, relationships and social practices are spread across national borders. By producing two linked case studies of British Bangladeshis (one of the largest transnational groups in the UK) our research has filled a gap in knowledge concerning the cultural identity and social practices of British Bangladeshis, as well as transnational children in general.
- Alongside this empirical contribution, our aim has also been to contribute to and further knowledge and conceptual understandings of processes of transnational migration and identity formation in diasporic spaces. The research has led to new perspectives on the importance of childhood, generation and the life course, opening up new questions, ways of knowing and perspectives. The research unsettles conventional binary oppositions that run through much discussion of transnational migration, such as 'here' and 'there', or 'home' and 'away' (the starting point of the project) A central finding was that the children fused these terms, thinking of and representing both London and Bangladesh as 'home' and 'away'. The research calls into question simplistic terms such as 'first' or 'second' generation, showing how due to the continual movement of people between places, these terms, and the assimilatory models with which they are associated, are not useful. The project has highlighted the role of embodiment and emotion in the experience of transnational migration, two much overlooked themes. The research contributes to new perspectives on transnational families, showing how children take an active role in creating (and / or negating) transnational relationships. The doctoral project has contributed to the development of new theoretical ideas concerning transnational social fields, and the role of children in negotiating these. The project has contributed to the development of new and creative research methods, using art, story telling and photography to access the children's understandings and experiences.
- Outputs of the project include: an exhibition of the children's art work, held at the Museum of Childhood in London from January - March 2009. This exhibition was organised around the themes of 'home' and 'away', showing how the children were rooted in both Britain and Bangladesh and that the binary opposition of the terms 'Home and Away' was for them, largely misleading. A collection of papers on 'Transnational Childhoods', to be published by a leading journal of Migration Studies, 'The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies'. This includes three papers based on the research (authored by Gardner and Mand, Zeitlyn and Mand and Zeitlyn) and an introductory essay authored by Professor Gardner on the importance of studying children to understandings of transnational migration and diaspora ('Through Children's Eyes: New Perspectives on Transnational Migration.') It is hoped that this essay and the edited volume will delimit a new area of interest within Migration and Diaspora studies: transnational children (as opposed to 'migrant children' in general). The volume has been submitted to JEMS and is currently under peer review.
- New perspectives on the use of arts based methodologies in working with transnational populations and / or migrant children are summarised in articles by Mand and Zeitlyn. A doctoral thesis ('Growing Up Glocal in London and Sylhet') on the lives and experiences of transnational Bangladeshi children in London and Bangladesh, which makes a major contribution to the empirical study of British Bangladeshis and their changing identities, and develops new theoretical insights around the concepts of 'transnational habitus' and 'transnational social fields'. Zeitlyn will be presenting insights into arts based and participatory methods at an ESRC workshop on that theme, based on his and Mand’s article in April 2011.
- Two books of children's stories, distributed to the children, their families and schools in Tower Hamlets and Islington. Contributions to the 'Bangla Stories' website, in collaboration with the Runnymede Trust and the 'Bengal Diasporas' research project. Dissemination of findings to a non-academic audience in national and diasporic media, including an item on S Channel TV (a widely viewed diasporic Bangladeshi television) and on the BBC news website. A mural, which exhibited in the Museum of Childhood. A report, written for immigration lawyers, on British Bangladeshi children's relationships with and experiences of Bangladesh.
