The Roy posts were illuminating. They illustrate how difficult it is to position yourself on the left if you are materially and professionally successful. In fact virtually all academics would fit this bill and academics are most prone to such attacks. Though these days any middle class individual (self-identified or income-determined) would be guilty of not sharing the peasant/proletariat identity/experience.
But the other topic that I want to touch upon is the Indian diaspora or for that matter any diaspora in the era of "globalization." The loose use of diaspora is problematic because it conflates class and non-class forms of identity to one of an emigre. For India and others pre-existing social distinction is especially important as increasingly the people of the working class/peasant background find themselves lumped under the rubric of diaspora, presumably highly mobile and successful. Let me also point out the Indian disapora spans Fiji, SE Asia, East and South Africa, the Anglophone countries, the Caribbean and formerly British Guyana. Cheers, Anthony xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Anthony P. D'Costa, Professor Comparative International Development University of Washington 1900 Commerce Street Tacoma, WA 98402, USA Phone: (253) 692-4462 Fax : (253) 692-5718 http://tinyurl.com/yhjzrm xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
