Twice Migrated, Twice Displaced explores the lives of Gulf South Asians who arrived in the Greater Toronto Area from India and Pakistan via Persian Gulf countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Tania Das Gupta reveals the multiple migration patterns of this unique group, analyzing themes such as gender, racial, and religious discrimination; class mobility; the formation of transnational families; and identities in a post-9/11 context.

Twice Migrated, Twice Displaced concludes that neoliberal economies in South Asia, the Gulf, and Canada create conditions for flexible labour by privatizing and diminishing social welfare. As migrants then search for employment, families are split across borders – making those relationships more precarious. The ambivalent, hybrid identities that result have implications for Canada in terms of community building, diaspora, citizenship, and migrants’ sense of belonging.

Lead editor Tania Das Gupta is an established Canadian scholar and Professor of Sociology in the Department of Equity Studies in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies at York University. Her research interests are in race, migration, diaspora as well as women and work.

Tania Das Gupta's profile page

Tania Das Gupta has published a powerful book that will capture the attention of anyone interested in the topic of migration, not only in Canada, but worldwide.

Ethnic and Racial Studies

“Twice Migrated, Twice Displaced may highlight the experiences of those who have settled in Toronto. But through its tight focus, it brings larger dynamics, playing out across the country, vividly to life.”

Literary Review of Canada