Suchergebnisse

Although castes are organizing as cross-border formations empirically, the literature seems preoccupied with analyzing caste diasporas in terms of the boundaries of the nation-state. This article examines how digital caste networks serve as border-spanning caste diaspora by drawing on Steven Vertovec's conceptualization of a diaspora. The analysis draws on ethnographic data to analyze the case of theCyber Thiyyars of Malabar, a digital caste network that seeks to mobilize members of the Thiyya caste by foregrounding regional affiliations with Malabar.

AbstractIn this essay, the area of Hitec City in Hyderabad, India, is analysed through the metaphor of "layered" spaces, in the context of global flows, particularly grobalization—the imperialistic imposition by nation-states and organizations on various geographic areas, involving the transnational expansion of common codes and practices. A layered space refers to multiple layers of actors who share the same space, although not all of them are equally prioritized in its conceptualization. Through a theoretically informed reading of Hitec City, this study highlights spatial polarization in the landscape, where certain actors, theglobal non-persons, are rendered as invisible as possible, so that they do not interfere with a specific global image, thegrobal-as-spectacle, projected through the medium of the landscape. This study draws heavily on the spatial form of Hitec City as a source of data. It is based on observation of this space through detailed mapping, as well as a descriptive analysis of the built forms in the area. While stratification and exclusion are not unique to globalization (or even to the process of grobalization), this study helps to examine particular forms that exclusion and stratification may take in the light of this process.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted gig work in urban areas across India. In this article, we investigate the nature of responses from gig workers at a time of no or partial work. The platform studies literature has documented the role of on-platform networks in the accrual of value and creation of the gig work opportunities. Taking a cue from the economic sociology literature, specifically social reproduction theory, we examine the role of off-platform networks in enabling work during the pandemic in India. We draw on ethnographic fieldwork among ride-hailing and food-delivery app workers conducted in Kanpur and Kolkata between April 2020 and July 2021. Our findings show that during the pandemic, platform workers turned to four kinds of networks for monetary and non-monetary support: household members, dispersed kinship ties, neighbourhood networks and work-related ties. We argue that despite the individual strategies visible on the surface, these personal networks served as an essential infrastructure to sustain platform-based service work. We use social reproduction theory to understand how off-platform networks were vital for reproducing the gig worker as well as for the generation of value for platforms.