Graduate Student
Email: s.bhushan@ufl.edu
Education
- Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Florida, In Progress
- M.A. Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi
- B.A. Sociology, University of Delhi
Subfield
Chair
Research Interests
Contemporary movement of African nationals to South Asia is substantial due to constrained migration policies in Western Europe and USA. Studies reveal South-South Migration to outnumbered South to North flows. Despite numerous examinations of Africa-China mobilities, there is meager work on African migrants in South Asia. My research fills this gap by developing an ethnographic account of African migrants in New Delhi, India.
My observations reveal that in relation to other migrants from Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Sri Lanka, African migrants in India are more “visible” and less “audible” due to their color and language dissimilarities. My interest explores discrimination against African nationals that manifest in the expression and activation of “Afro-phobic” stereotypes such as drug peddlers, sex workers and “Habshi” (an Arabic word for traders and slaves of Ethiopian origin given by the Mughal emperors).
In contrast to these cultural and political exclusions, my study registers migration as a ‘question of life’ reflected in Michael Jackson’s “The Wherewithal of Life”, to explore the “ethical identity” of African migrants in Delhi and the terms of their “will to live” in the face of these challenges and their own imperatives to seek and create opportunity far from home.
Selected Publications
Grants, Fellowships, and Awards
- Elizabeth Eddy Doctoral Completion Award, Ph.D. University of Florida.
- Krishna Raj fellowship award, MA, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi.