Università degli studi di Milano Università degli studi di Torino PhD PROGRAM SOCIOLOGY AND METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL RESEARCH – XXIX Cohort SETTORE SCIENTIFICO SPS/08 Identity Representations & Space Relationships: The Case of Sikh Migrants in the North of Italy Doctoral dissertation by Catherine St-Hilaire Supervisor: Prof. Enzo Colombo Director of Doctoral Program: Prof Mauro Barisione & Prof. Mario Cardano Academic Year 2018/2019 Identity Representations & Space Relationships: The Case of Sikh Migrants in the North of Italy | 2 Identity Representations & Space Relationships: The Case of Sikh Migrants in the North of Italy | 3 Acknowledgements This work is dedicated to my family which from near or far remained very supportive of my work and helped me through the good and the worse of this PhD universe. My parents were always there and eager to help, despite not necessarily knowing what I was truly doing. Their presence for me via Skype or on the phone as well as opening their arms when I would come back for extended holidays made me recharge my batteries and get ready for the next step. I am particularly grateful to Étienne, my partner in life, my partner in crime, the only one who can channel my stress into a sort of focus and can listen to my endless uncertainties and still believe in me afterwards: my Love, I thank you, I would not have done it without you. Another great thank you goes to my best friend who came to visit me in Italy for a weekend more often than I could ever imagine was possible from Canada. Florence, an amazing woman who studied with me during my bachelor’s degree but has gone back to the real world since leaving academia. She is the only one who can understand both my academic, and personal issues in life and with this thesis, and was able to provide hypotheses and suggestions about every sphere of my life. Furthermore she was able to translate my vision on paper, since she made this thesis much more readable after editing countless drafts, so for this I say: Merci ma chère! There is also the endless list of amazing people that I met at my new university and that I am particularly indebted to, for the support and fun that we all had together. First there are some of the members of SOCME1 with whom I have spent much more time because of proximity, and of proximity to the numerous aperitivo places in the center of Milan, those people include Massimo, Cristina and Cristina the second, Francesco, Grace and all the others. There are those that are part of NASP or any other graduate schools which were there, each in their own years and their own department, thus we could help each other at various times in the day (or night) and in the year, and which you were all so understanding of my feelings as a foreigner in a new place and at a new university, and thus sometimes feeling lonely of just reading and 1 The former acronym of Sociology and Methodology of Social Research program. Identity Representations & Space Relationships: The Case of Sikh Migrants in the North of Italy | 4 writing my thesis. I sincerely thank you all for this amazing support especially my visiting friend Selina, and then at UNIMI, Bruna, Andreia, Fatma, Minke, Auste, Mirele and my Italian colleague Annarita. Then there is this great friend that I met at the graduate school, and who became my favorite go-to Italian person in the world. You have made me enjoy Italy, and then I was able to enjoy my work properly, thank you Samuel. Without you, I would have never remembered why I was doing this! In the matter of people that I have known for years or simply new friends, I have to give a shout out for your time and patience with me. Thank you, Tanya, Sarah, and Venilla for numerous talks and drinks back in Canada, it made me feel right at home. Another person with whom I have worked during my whole PhD and whom became a great friend is Jaspinder. Thank you for welcoming me into your life and into your family during the fieldwork. This dissertation would have never happened without you, and thus, it is partly dedicated to you and yours. Finally, in a more academic perspective, I owe many thanks to my supervisor for his help and support throughout this process. Prof. Enzo Colombo, every time I entered your office, I was feeling exasperated and when I left your office, I had a renewed perspective on my work and a good dose of positivity. I know I may have been complicated to follow with my very long emails, but your short answers and meetings were exactly what I needed to keep going. From the University of Milan, I would like to acknowledge the help of Prof. Barisione and Prof. Cardano for their answers to my many queries for the past four years. Thanks to Prof. Ambrosini and Prof. Biscaldi, for giving me a chance to be worthy grad student in various occasions which you so nicely provided. From York University, thank you to Prof. Nijawan, my time in Toronto may have been short, but very constructive, since at this point I was far from realizing the amount of work I still needed to accomplish. Finally I would like to sincerely thank the two reviewers, Prof. Bertolani and Prof. Trimboli whom offered valuable and thorough comments and suggestions to enrich my thesis. I thank you all for making me realize that I needed to focus more, and I am glad of it. Everyone’s personal and academic help made this dissertation possible, and I cannot be sincerer when I say: Merci! Catherine St-Hilaire Montreal, Canada July 9th, 2018 Identity Representations & Space Relationships: The Case of Sikh Migrants in the North of Italy | 5 Table of Content 10 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 Table of Content ................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Preface ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework................................................................................................................................. 16 1.1. Circumstance of the northern Sikhs of Italy .............................................................................................. 18 1.2. Research Design: Overarching Theories ................................................................................................... 22 1.2.1. Antonsich’s Five Key Factors ................................................................................................................. 23 1.2.2. Colombo and Rebughini’s Mundane or Parental Culture &Way of Life ............................................ 27 1.3. Concepts and Analytical tools: Identity Representations ........................................................................... 28 1.4. Concepts and Analytical Tools: Space Relationships ................................................................................ 34 Chapter 2: Methodology .................................................................................................................................................. 42 2.1. Research Design: Overarching Theories ................................................................................................... 42 2.2. Challenges and Obstacles .......................................................................................................................... 43 2.2.1. Ethnography ............................................................................................................................................ 44 2.2.2. Interviews ................................................................................................................................................ 46 2.3. Interview Sampling & Setting .................................................................................................................... 47 2.4. Respondents .............................................................................................................................................. 48 2.5. Interview Types ......................................................................................................................................... 51 2.6. The Research ............................................................................................................................................ 55 2.6.1. Reflexivity ................................................................................................................................................ 55 2.6.2. Limitations .............................................................................................................................................. 59 Chapter 3: Identity Representations ............................................................................................................................... 61 3.1. Being Indian ............................................................................................................................................. 64 3.1.1. Being Indian, Being Sikh and Not Italian .............................................................................................