Transnational discrimination: the case of casteism and the Indian diaspora

ABSTRACT Discrimination is typically thought as a domestic phenomenon. This article, by contrast, seeks to shed light on the transnational arc of discrimination as a result of the migration of exclusionary practices through diasporic dispersion. It takes as its case study the problem of casteism in the Indian diaspora. The caste system has long been known as a distinctly ‘Indian’ phenomenon, but Indian migration has arguably made the problem an increasingly global one. The complexity of dealing with casteism arises at the intersection of: competing mobilisations of different sectors of the diaspora; the effort of host societies to understand the problem as, increasingly, a domestic one; and a tenuous but significant role of the state of origin (India). At the same time, host societies often appear unprepared to deal with the issue and are confronted with issues of inter-cultural competency, the difficulty of fitting caste within existing anti-discrimination categories, and fear of unduly stigmatising an entire community.