Migrant Politics and the ‘ambiguous’ concept of citizenship in post-colonial Asia.

Principle Investigator：Poonam Sharma

This study critically studies the fluctuating roles and statuses of vulnerable communities such as the labor migrants in India, Malaysia and Singapore. A comparative study of these three countries as different examples will highlight my research on the ‘inclusion-exclusion’ status of irregular and labor migrants amid the politics of citizenship governed by post-colonial guidelines. First, I emphasize on understanding - how Illegal migration across international borders is considered a serious 'threat' and an 'alarming' phenomenon for the modern nation-states from several socio-political and geographical prospects. Later, it focuses on the legal-illegal citizenship status of migrants in respect to the contemporary citizenship definitions of ‘citizens’ and ‘non-citizens’. The question of citizenship is most vulnerable when irregular migrants emerge as legal citizens but remains illegal and disowned forever. Emphasizing on ethno-cultural complexities, it looks into the complexity of the phenomenon of migration, fluctuating citizenship status of migrants and the way the migrant diasporas are politicized and religiously manipulated within the modern democratic sphere. Most crucially, this research will critically analyze the question of statelessness and subjectivation of labor migrants in these societies. 
I argue that the political presentation and administration influenced by a colonial history plays a dominant role in defining the labor policies that reflects upon a kind of ‘modern day slavery’ in the contemporary times.
This study is proposed to be conducted for three years and intends to study the cases that further reflects the problematics concerning the citizenship politics that influences the existence of vulnerable subjects (such as the migrants in this case). I will highlight the socio-political and economic inequality in relevance to irregular migration and governance of migrants. Therefore, this is a study of how 'illegal migrants' have emerged as elements of ‘migrant politics’ concerning the laws defining citizenship and illegality, statelessness and lawlessness in the contemporary modern nations.