PhD Thesis Defence by Annamaria Laudini
Caste and gender are key determinants of inequality in India: despite the expectation that their relevance would decline with increasing modernisation, in contemporary Indian society these intersecting axes of identity continue to shape individuals’ life opportunities and outcomes and to regulate their socioeconomic relationships. This study investigates how these ascribed categories of identity affect opportunities and outcomes of transnational migration, and how, in turn, the context of immigration reshapes class, caste, and gender relations.
Previous research points to a resurgence of caste and gender inequalities in Indian diasporas in Western countries. Yet, most studies focus exclusively on the subjective dimension of perceived discrimination, failing to address the material aspects of caste and gender inequality and how they manifest abroad.
This study focuses on a growing Mini Punjab in rural central Italy to explore how caste and gender identities affect migratory experiences and how power relations among individuals and groups are reconfigured in this specific context. Employing theories of transnationalism and intersectionality and a mixed-methods design combining multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Italy and Punjab, participant observation, interviews, and an original door-to-door survey in an Italian municipality, this study explores the relationship between processes of transnational migration and social mobility.
The findings point to a fundamental role played by class mobility in re-shaping caste and gender relations among Punjabi migrants, both at the material and at the subjective level. Specific legal, labour, and social constraints in the receiving context push individuals from different backgrounds to converge into the same class at the lower end of the Italian social structure, preventing the systemic reproduction of previous ascriptive inequalities. The intersection of multiple identities in the process of transnational social mobility gives rise to new forms of competition and self-assertion, with previously dominant groups seeking to re-affirm their status distinction, previously oppressed groups demanding recognition of their equal status, and religion becoming a key arena for these power struggles.
Annamaria Laudini is a PhD researcher at the European University Institute. She holds a MSc in Applied Anthropology from the University of Amsterdam, a MSc in Neuroscience from the Humboldt University in Berlin, and a BA in Philosophy from the University of Rome La Sapienza. Her research explores the relationship between transnational migration and social stratification, with a focus on the transformation of inequalities across national boundaries, specifically in the context of contemporary Indian migration to Europe. She conducted multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork in Italy and India, employing methods of participant observation, interviews, and surveys. Her work – published in Dialectical Anthropology, Religions, and Jacobin – engages with broader debates on migration governance, social mobility, religious movements, and intersectionality, integrating anthropological and sociological perspectives.