(Un)Settling Imagined Lands

2019 ◽  
pp. 174-208
Author(s):  
Kakali Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
South Asian Women ◽  
The South ◽  
Global North ◽  
Research Praxis ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Academic Discourses

De/colonial methodologies and ontoepistemologies have gained popularity in the academic discourses emerging from Global North perspectives over the last decade. However, such perspectives often erase the broader global agenda of de/colonizing research, praxis, and activism that could be initiated and engaged with beyond the issue of land repatriation, as that is not the only agenda in de/colonial initiatives. In this chapter, I coin a framework, Par/Des(i), with six tenets, and offer three actionable methodological turns grounded in transnational de/colonial ontoepistemologies. I locate, situate, and trace the Par/Des(i) framework within the South Asian diasporic discourses and lived realities as evidenced from my empirical work with transnational South Asian women, my community, and my colleagues. Therefore, I offer possibilities of being, knowing, and enacting de/colonizing methodologies in our work, when engaging with the Par/Des(i) framework, with an invitation for an expanded conversation.

scholarly journals South Asian immigrant women & abuse : identifying intersecting issues and culturally appropriate solutions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritu Chokshi
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
South Asian Women ◽  
The South ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
Asian Community ◽  
South Asian Community

The current discourse and media portrayal of abused South Asian women is largely around depicting a pathological community, placing the blame of domestic violence within the South Asian community as an inherent result of South Asian culture. This paper aims moves [sic] away from a simplistic cultural interpretation of violence and utilizes an intersectional perspective for understanding multiple oppressions faced by abused South Asian women. Mapping key intersecting issues and analysis of gaps in the service provision in the domestic violence sector are undertaken through an in-depth literature review. An exploratory and descriptive case study method is adopted to explore a community-based organization's approach to culturally appropriate domestic violence intervention in the South Asian community. Case study findings recommend utilizing a culturally appropriate approach for understanding, engaging and intervening in domestic violence cases in the South Asian community. Community development, strengthening the family and a non-blame approach to addressing violence is recommended through the case study.

Re-Orientalism: The Perpetration and Development of Orientalism by Orientals

2009 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 571-590 ◽  
Author(s):  
LISA LAU
Keyword(s):  
Women Writers ◽  
South Asian ◽  
The Other ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
South Asian Women ◽  
Significant Extent ◽  
The South ◽  
South Asian Literature ◽  
Truth Claims ◽  
Half Decade

AbstractThis article discusses the perpetration of Orientalism in the arena of contemporary South Asian literature in English: no longer an Orientalism propagated by Occidentals, but ironically enough, by Orientals, albeit by diasporic Orientals. This process, which is here termed as Re-Orientalism, dominates and, to a significant extent, distorts the representation of the Orient, seizing voice and platform, and once again consigning the Oriental within the Orient to a position of ‘The Other’. The article begins by analysing and establishing the dominant positionality of diasporic South Asian women writers relative to their non-diasporic counterparts in the genre, particularly within the last half decade. It then identifies three problems with the techniques employed by some diasporic authors which have exacerbated the detrimental effects of Re-Orientalism; the pre-occupation with producing writing which is recognisably within the South Asian genre, the problem of generalisation and totalisation, and the insidious nature of ‘truth claims’.

scholarly journals South Asian immigrant women & abuse : identifying intersecting issues and culturally appropriate solutions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ritu Chokshi
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
Culturally Appropriate ◽  
South Asian Women ◽  
The South ◽  
Descriptive Case Study ◽  
Asian Community ◽  
South Asian Community

The current discourse and media portrayal of abused South Asian women is largely around depicting a pathological community, placing the blame of domestic violence within the South Asian community as an inherent result of South Asian culture. This paper aims moves [sic] away from a simplistic cultural interpretation of violence and utilizes an intersectional perspective for understanding multiple oppressions faced by abused South Asian women. Mapping key intersecting issues and analysis of gaps in the service provision in the domestic violence sector are undertaken through an in-depth literature review. An exploratory and descriptive case study method is adopted to explore a community-based organization's approach to culturally appropriate domestic violence intervention in the South Asian community. Case study findings recommend utilizing a culturally appropriate approach for understanding, engaging and intervening in domestic violence cases in the South Asian community. Community development, strengthening the family and a non-blame approach to addressing violence is recommended through the case study.

Paradoxes of Patriarchy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pallavi Banerjee
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
South Asian ◽  
The United States ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
Ethnic Enclaves ◽  
South Asian Women ◽  
The South ◽  
Asian Immigrant ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
South Asian Immigrant

This chapter examines the paradoxes of patriarchy by drawing on the experiences of South Asian immigrant women in ethnic labor markets. Most South Asian women who work in the South Asian labor market in the United States are engaged in low-wage work within the ethnic labor market, employed by male-owned businesses and with little separation between the private and public spheres. The women and their families often live in same ethnic enclaves where they work. This chapter considers whether South Asian immigrant women's entry into a structurally stratified ethnic labor market creates a paradox in their lives. More specifically, it explores whether employment increases the women's bargaining power within the household and whether the close proximity between work and home facilitates working longer hours for little pay. The chapter reveals the paradoxes of immigration and gendered labor in ethnic enclaves. While the ethnic markets' familial/patrilineal structure creates social capital and a safe space for the South Asian women, it also makes them vulnerable to exploitation in terms of reduced wages and increased work hours.

scholarly journals “I Like it Clean”: Brazilian Waxing and Postfeminist Subjectivity Among South Asian Beauticians in London

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nandita Dutta
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Self ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
South Asian Women ◽  
Women's Bodies ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Aesthetic Labor ◽  
Global North

Postfeminism is a neoliberal sensibility that locates femininity in the body, thereby imploring women to constantly labor on, monitor and discipline their bodies. This aesthetic labor is presented to women as freely chosen and empowering. Brazilian waxing is exemplary aesthetic labor directed at the self. Academic literature on aesthetic labor in general, and Brazilian waxing in particular, looks at white and middle-class women, as this category of women is considered the putative subject of postfeminism. Little attention is paid to racialized women from the global south who perform aesthetic labor on other women’s bodies in the global north. In this paper, I draw on my ethnographic study of two beauty salons in London run by South Asian women to argue that these South Asian beauticians are postfeminist subjects as well. The aim of challenging the putative subject of postfeminism, using the example of Brazilian waxing, is not merely to include South Asian women in the discourse, but to advance a transnational theorization of postfeminism. Such theorization, I demonstrate, leads to a better understanding of how postfeminism is implicated in global structures of power as well as the affective qualities of postfeminism including intimacy and disgust.

scholarly journals Gestational diabetes mellitus: a qualitative study of lived experiences of South Asian immigrant women and perspectives of their health care providers in Melbourne, Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mridula Bandyopadhyay
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Gestational Diabetes ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Lifestyle Modification ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
South Asian Women

Abstract Background South Asian women are at a high risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus than other women in Australia. Gestational diabetes affects up to 14–19% of all pregnancies among South Asian, South East Asian, and Arabic populations placing women at risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Although, gestational diabetes resolves after childbirth, women with gestational diabetes are up to seven times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes within five to ten years of the index pregnancy. Increasingly, South Asian women are being diagnosed with gestational diabetes in Australia. Therefore, we aimed to gain a better understanding of the lived experiences of South Asian women and their experiences of self-management and their health care providers’ perspectives of treatment strategies. Methods Using an ethnographic qualitative research methodology, semi-structured one-on-one, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 21 health care providers involved in gestational diabetes management and treatment from the three largest tertiary level maternity hospitals in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 South Asian women post diagnosis between 24–28 weeks gestation in pregnancy. Results Health care providers had challenges in providing care to South Asian women. The main challenge was to get women to self-manage their blood glucose levels with lifestyle modification. Whilst, women felt self-management information provided were inadequate and inappropriate to their needs. Women felt ‘losing control over their pregnancy’, because of being preoccupied with diet and exercise to control their blood glucose level. Conclusions The gestational diabetes clinical practice at the study hospitals were unable to meet consumer expectations. Health care providers need to be familiar of diverse patient cultures, rather than applying the current ‘one size fits all’ approach that failed to engage and meet the needs of immigrant and ethnic women. Future enabling strategies should aim to co-design and develop low Glycaemic Index diet plans of staple South Asian foods and lifestyle modification messages.

scholarly journals A systematic review of barriers and enablers to South Asian women’s attendance for asymptomatic screening of breast and cervical cancers in emigrant countries

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. e020892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Mary Anderson de Cuevas ◽  
Pooja Saini ◽  
Deborah Roberts ◽  
Kinta Beaver ◽  
Mysore Chandrashekar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Asian Women ◽  
South Asian Women ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Asian Populations ◽  
Breast And Cervical Cancer ◽  
Social Structural ◽  
Behavioural Factors ◽  
Screening Attendance

ObjectivesThe aim of this review was to identify the cultural, social, structural and behavioural factors that influence asymptomatic breast and cervical cancer screening attendance in South Asian populations, in order to improve uptake and propose priorities for further research.DesignA systematic review of the literature for inductive, comparative, prospective and intervention studies. We searched the following databases: MEDLINE/In-Process, Web of Science, EMBASE, SCOPUS, CENTRAL, CDSR, CINAHL, PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES from database inception to 23 January 2018. The review included studies on the cultural, social, structural and behavioural factors that influence asymptomatic breast and cervical cancer screening attendance and cervical smear testing (Papanicolaou test) in South Asian populations and those published in the English language. The framework analysis method was used and themes were drawn out following the thematic analysis method.SettingsAsymptomatic breast or cervical screening.ParticipantsSouth Asian women, including Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bhutanese, Maldivian and Nepali populations.Results51 included studies were published between 1991 and 2018. Sample sizes ranged from 25 to 38 733 and participants had a mean age of 18 to 83 years. Our review showed that South Asian women generally had lower screening rates than host country women. South Asian women had poorer knowledge of cancer and cancer prevention and experienced more barriers to screening. Cultural practices and assumptions influenced understandings of cancer and prevention, emphasising the importance of host country cultures and healthcare systems.ConclusionsHigh-quality research on screening attendance is required using prospective designs, where objectively validated attendance is predicted from cultural understandings, beliefs, norms and practices, thus informing policy on targeting relevant public health messages to the South Asian communities about screening for cancer.PROSPERO registration numberCSD 42015025284.

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