A University of Sussex PhD thesis Available online via Sussex Research Online: http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/ This thesis is protected by copyright which belongs to the author. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Please visit Sussex Research Online for more information and further details Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR): A Multi-Sited Study of Mobilities between Bangladesh and London Md Farid Miah For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Human Geography School of Global Studies I University of Sussex September 2019 2 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY: I hereby declare that this thesis has not been and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to another University for the award of any other degree. Signature: ……………………………………… 3 SUMMARY The thesis examines the bilateral transnational visiting mobilities of British Bangladeshis and their non-migrant relatives and friends. Theoretically, it draws from the interdisciplinary research fields of Mobilities, Transnationalism and Diaspora Studies. Geographically, it focuses on the VFR practices, processes, experiences of ‘to and fro’ visits between Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi London diaspora, and the social, cultural and political implications of the mobilities and immobilities that unfold. The research is designed as a multi-sited study. Data was collected over a thirteen- month period through participant observation and semi-structured interviews in London and Bangladesh. Analysis of the empirical evidence is divided into three key trajectories. In the first trajectory, I interpret and compare the context and experiences of VFR mobilities from Britain to Bangladesh, i.e. visits to the migrant and diasporic ‘homeland’. Deploying the notion of ‘memoryscape’, I analyse British-Bangladeshis’ often nostalgic and idealised recollections of places, landscapes and people remembered from the distant past of childhood and early adulthood, or from more recent experiences of visits, and with a particular focus on cross-generational and gendered comparisons. Secondly, I look into the VFR mobilities from a different perspective by reversing the transnational optic. I explore and analyse the diverse experiences and interactions of non-migrant Bangladeshis’ visits to London with the host community, and the significance of the events that unfold. Their VFR mobilities are in many ways quite different from the existing examples of ‘hosting practices’, particularly in the European context, that have been studied. Inherent power imbalances, lack of access to ‘network capital’, the generational gap and the hidden tensions of hosting relatives and friends from the home country in a diasporic space are the key contrasts. Finally, I look into the concomitants of VFR mobilities, including issues of identity, home-making and materialities that are embedded in the bilateral VFR trajectories, and associated tensions and perspectives for the future. The thesis contributes new theoretical and empirical insights into the phenomenon and epistemology of VFR mobilities. Such mobilities, and their correlate of immobilities, unfold in a highly unequal transnational geopolitical and economic context, and add a much-needed novel perspective to a field dominated by western-centric research among relatively free-moving tourists, lifestyle and professional migrants, and members of diasporas. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to many people for their support and encouragements throughout the process of researching and writing this thesis, some of whom are named below. The first set of thanks goes to my supervisors, Prof Russell King and Dr Katie Walsh. Together they constitute a finely balanced team. Katie has always constructively challenged me and pushed me towards doing better. I was extremely lucky to have Russell as the main supervisor. His role has been much more than just a supervisor. Without his mentoring, careful guidance, support and encouragement, this thesis would not have been finished! A big thank you, Russell, for believing in me. My sincere thanks are also due for my excellent participants in London and Bangladesh. Not only have they patiently answered my questions, many of them also allowed me to spend a lot of time with them discussing so many issues. I was hosted and invited by many of my participants at their family residence in both countries. Some of them also led me to other participants within their network of relatives and friends. Privacy rules prevent me from disclosing their names here, but you are all amazing people. Personal thanks go to many other friends and colleagues. Particularly, Iftekhar Ahmed Poplu, Ansar Ahmed Ullah, Julie Begum and Aminur Rahman Khan in London, and Moinuddin Ahmed Jalal, Abir Bazlul, Mahadi Hasan and Ariful Islam in Bangladesh have gone above and beyond to support me during my fieldwork, including recruiting and liaising with my participants. Finally, and most importantly, I am grateful to my wife Shamima Nasrin for her continuous and crucial support during the last four years. Also, my mum, siblings and relatives in Bangladesh have always motivated me over phone calls and chats while I am in London and also ensured my care, safety and well-being in Sylhet during my field visits there. Many thanks are also due to my British-Bangladeshi relatives and friends. 5 Table of Contents STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY: ................................................................................................................. 2 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................ 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................ 4 LIST OF FIGURES: ...................................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 8 1.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 GEOGRAPHY OF VFR MOBILITIES ............................................................................................................. 11 1.3 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY OF THE BRITISH-BANGLADESHI DIASPORA ............................................................ 13 1.4 TRACING BRITISH-BANGLADESHI VFR MOBILITIES ...................................................................................... 19 1.5 HYPHENATED BRITISH-BANGLADESHI IDENTITIES ........................................................................................ 22 1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 25 1.7 OUTLINE OF THE CHAPTERS ..................................................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER TWO: THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF VFR.............................................................................. 31 2.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 32 2.2 UNDERSTANDING THE NOTION OF VFR..................................................................................................... 32 2.3 THEORIES ............................................................................................................................................. 38 2.3.1 Mobilities .................................................................................................................................. 39 2.3.2 Transnationalism...................................................................................................................... 46 2.3.3 Diaspora ................................................................................................................................... 48 2.4 THE FRAMEWORK OF ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 53 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 58 3.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................... 59 3.2 A MULTI-SITED ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH .............................................................................................. 59 3.3 A REFLEXIVE POSITIONALITY .................................................................................................................... 62 3.4 LOCATING MY FIELD-WORK SITES ............................................................................................................ 69 3.4.1 Recruitment and sampling strategies ..................................................................................... 70 3.4.2 Field visit to Bangladesh .......................................................................................................... 73 3.5 METHODS ...........................................................................................................................................