Leaving the Land: Indigenous Migration and Affective Labour in India by Dolly Kikon and Bengt G. Karlsson (published by Cambridge University Press in 2019) provides a fresh foundation for studying migration, distinct from the traditional understanding that focuses on circularity and the push-and-pull factors into the account. This book offers a new framework for understanding indigenous migration, illustrating that while migration is fundamentally about seeking better livelihoods, it holds other dimensions that are important for indigenous populations from Northeast India. Kikon and Karlsson conceptualise migration as an ‘openness of journey’ or ‘wayfinding,’ rather than merely a transition between two two opposite places. The book explores how, even after India’s independence, the relationship between the Northeast region and the Indian mainland remains fraught with tensions, shaped by day-to-day violence and armed conflict. It raises fundamental questions about how indigenous migrants negotiate their identities in urban spaces, forming a ‘stretched imagination’—a dual consciousness of their hometowns and their cities.

The book opens with the life story of Choro, who works in a five-star hotel in Kerala. He shows Kikon and Karlsson a magical stone he brought from Manipur but later throws it into a lake due to certain personal circumstances. This anecdote highlights how migrants, despite developing a cosmopolitan sensibility, remain deeply attached to their cultural dispositions or their connections and lifeworld of their home communities (p. 27). Choro later purchases land, which becomes a significant symbol of attachment for him. The authors narrate several life stories that illustrate how daily experiences and encounters in the city are deeply entrenched in memories of home. They introduce the concept of a ‘stretched lifeworld’ (p. 38) to describe how indigenous migrants maintain an extended sense of belonging that spans across geographical boundaries.

Chapter 2, focuses on ethnographic accounts while emphasising the role of affective/emotional labour. The expansion of the service sector in mainland Indian cities has generated a demand for labour that is perceived as ‘intrinsic’ to North-eastern migrants. They are disproportionately employed in industries that require affective labour, such as spas, hotels, and airlines. Unlike material production, this form of labour is categorised as the production of feelings, catering to an ‘industry of emotions’ that includes flight attendants, hospitality workers, etc. However, this professional placement is not without consequences. The chapter delves into the daily racial discrimination faced by indigenous migrants, who are often viewed as ‘un-Indian’ due to their appearance and specific culture. The authors explore how these experiences are shaped by their origins in a militarized region and the broader racialised perceptions of their identity.

Chapter 3, examines young migrants in the hospitality sector and their evolving trajectories of migration. Some migrants face racial stereotypes by performing as Japanese or Chinese staff members in some restaurants, illustrating how their labour and bodily appearance are commodified within specific racial imaginaries. Despite being far from home, migrants find a sense of belonging in community mobilisation, which offers a sense of ‘ontological security, a grounding, and a place to return to.’ The chapter includes a story about Paul from Shillong, who studies in South India and remarks, ‘You can take a man out of Shillong, but you can’t take Shillong out of them’ (p. 71). Through corporate and academic spaces, the chapter explores how Northeastern migrants continuously negotiate their experiences of being perceived as outsiders in Indian cities. Chapter 4 interestingly encourages scholars to move beyond textual analysis and explore new modes of expressing migrant experiences through visual representation. The authors present a photo ethnography project titled Wayfinding, which encountered multiple struggles during various exhibitions and academic presentations. One intriguing aspect of the project is the absence of captions, prompting viewers to construct and understand their interpretations. This aspect highlights how the Northeast region is often reduced to a set of racialised facial features, while simultaneously emphasising the importance/romanticisation of sensory perception in the service sector. By using photography as an ethnographic tool, the authors provide an alternative means of understanding and researching indigenous migration. Chapter 5 explores the sensory and emotional dimensions of migration, with a particular focus on food, dreams, and aspirations. The authors argue that ‘the effect of migration is deep and emotional’ (p. 99), and they analyze how food serves as an emotional and cultural anchor for migrants. Food not only provides comfort but also connects migrants to their homeland, embodying a ‘corporeal sensory experience’ (Ray, 2015). The chapter further discusses how migrants navigate anxieties related to documentation, as seen in the case of Chuba, who constantly worries about securing legal identity papers. In a globalised world, indigenous cultures are often commodified, as exemplified by Northeastern migrants working in Japanese restaurants, where their labour and bodily presence reinforce and even reproduce racial hierarchies. The chapter highlights how consuming familiar foods fosters a sense of collective experience among migrants, reinforcing their shared identity.

This work also reflects the positionality of the researchers, emphasising the importance of acknowledging one’s standpoint in ethnographic work, which they explained in the last chapter. Their book provides an important account of indigenous migrants in Indian cities, illustrating how their experiences differ from those of other crisis-driven migrants. The racialised nature of the modern service sector has absorbed them into industries that do not produce material goods but rather feelings and emotions. Their bodies are transformed into commodities. The book captures the daily struggles of being perceived as ‘un-Indian’ in a globalised urban environment. This exclusion is not limited to low-wage jobs but extends across various professional levels, from restaurant waiters to PhD scholars and flight attendants, all of whom share a common experience of alienation and ‘otherness’. Leaving the Land provides a new approach to studying migration, moving beyond economic explanations and exploring emotional, and sensory dimensions as well. The book shows how indigenous migrants express their identities through food, dreams, and everyday interactions, offering a valuable contribution to ethnographers, and migration studies in contemporary India.

Reference:

Ray, Krishnendu. 2015. ‘Culinary Spaces and National Cuisines: The Pleasures of an Indian Ocean Cuisine?’ In The Globalization of Asian Cuisines edited by James Farrer. Pp. 23-35. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

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Abhishek Kumar Yadav is pursuing a PhD at the Special Centre for North East Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. His interests lie in the informal sector of India, political economy, and migration issues in the contemporary world.