Exploring Migrant Lives

Non-Elite South Asian Migration to Hamburg and Beyond From a Microhistorical Perspective, c. 1920-1950

by Svenja von Jan
Doctoral thesis
Date of Examination:2022-09-07
Date of issue:2023-08-10
Advisor:Prof. Dr. Ravi Ahuja
Referee:Prof. Dr. Ravi Ahuja
Referee:Prof. Dr. Jochen Oltmer
Referee:Prof. Dr. Rebekka Habermas
Persistent Address: http://dx.doi.org/10.53846/goediss-10049

 

 

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Abstract

English

The thesis investigates the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion for non-elite South Asian migrants in European port cities in the interwar period through the lens of two historic biographies. The focus of the study is on Hamburg, more specifically, on the Sankt Pauli dock neighbourhood, although the narrative follows the newcomers to other port cities like Antwerp and London as well. Despite not being a major port of arrival for South Asian migrants in the interwar period, Hamburg nevertheless had long-standing trading connections to India and a small Chinese and African diaspora. To approximate the limits and possibilities of non-elite South Asian migration, this study especially focusses on the socio-economic, political, and occupational networks and infrastructures within which the migrants operated, which are presented in separate chapters but also as part of a comprehensive analysis of their life trajectories Their personal histories, attachments, experiences, relationships, and legal and social statuses linked them to a variety of places and people. These connections often increased their prospects of staying in a new country but could also amplify their marginalisation. Methodologically, the thesis employs microhistory and historic biography. In the absence of quantifiable data, microhistory provided a lens through which to observe and make sense of the experience the marginalized. Historic Biography not only contributed a convenient narrative form. The seemingly chaotic and incoherent succession of biographic episodes, events, moments, and snapshots as retrieved from the sources also required a methodological framework which considered the underlying socio-economic patterns informing the migrants’ choices and actions to bring structure into the chaos. Only a consistent narrative and methodological framework allowed for the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion of South Asian non-elite migrants to emerge through the lens of individual cases.
Keywords: History of Migration; South Asian Migration; Interwar Period; Microhistory; Historic Biography
 
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