The Asian Diaspora MTA
Migration, Remittances, and Transnational Networks, 1800–Present

About this book:

*The Asian Diaspora: Migration, Remittances, and Transnational Networks, 1800–Present* provides a comprehensive social and economic history of the movement of Asian peoples across the Indian Ocean, Pacific, and Atlantic worlds. The book begins by charting the 19th-century transition from coerced labor regimes, such as the "coolie" indenture trades that supplied sugar plantations in Mauritius, Fiji, and the Caribbean, to the recruitment of Chinese and Japanese workers for the mines and railways of the Americas. It highlights how these movements were not merely responses to imperial demand but were facilitated by pre-existing merchant capital networks and kinship structures that allowed migrants to navigate colonial bureaucracies and racial exclusion laws.

A central theme of the work is the "economy of return," specifically the sophisticated financial infrastructures created to move value across borders. The text explores how informal banking systems like the South Asian *hundi* and Chinese *hui* rotating savings associations allowed laborers and traders to bypass exclusionary colonial banks, ensuring that remittances could reach home villages to fund land purchases, education, and household survival. These financial circuits transformed migrant-sending regions—such as the *qiaoxiang* in China or rural Kerala in India—into transnational hubs where the physical landscape and social hierarchies were fundamentally reordered by global capital.

The narrative also focuses on the social and political evolution of these communities as they shifted from "sojourner" bachelor societies to settled transnational families. The book details the gendered nature of these journeys, highlighting the role of "picture brides" in the early 20th century and the "global care chains" of the late 20th century, where women became primary migrants in the domestic and healthcare sectors. It further examines how diaspora communities became hotbeds for nationalism, providing the financial and ideological support necessary for home-rule movements in India, China, and Korea, while simultaneously building religious and cultural institutions to preserve identity in hostile host societies.

In its final sections, the book addresses the modern era, characterized by the rise of global cities like Singapore, Dubai, and Los Angeles, and the impact of systemic shocks such as the 1997 and 2008 financial crises. It concludes by looking toward the future, analyzing how digital fintech and social media have revolutionized remittance ecologies. Most pressingly, it identifies climate change as the next great driver of Asian mobility, as rising sea levels and environmental degradation transform economic migration into a survival strategy, forcing a global reassessment of citizenship, refuge, and the enduring resilience of the Asian diaspora.

What You'll Find Inside:

• The book traces Asian migration across the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans from 1800-present, revealing how labor trades, merchant networks, and family strategies created transnational systems that reshaped both sending and receiving societies.
• It examines how remittances and informal financial instruments (hundi, hui, rotating savings) converted migrant wages into economic assets for home communities, building powerful transnational financial circuits that operated alongside formal banking systems.
• The work explores how diaspora communities built religious institutions, ethnic enclaves, and cultural practices that maintained identity while adapting to new environments, from temple networks in port cities to digital cultural preservation in the 21st century.
• It analyzes the intersection of migration with empire, race, and law, showing how colonial governance, exclusion laws, and racial hierarchies shaped diaspora experiences and sparked political mobilization for rights and homeland liberation.
• The book connects historical patterns to contemporary issues, demonstrating how digital technologies, climate change, and modern financial systems are transforming Asian diaspora life while revealing the enduring resilience of family strategies and networked trust.

Who's It For:

This book is ideal for students and scholars of migration studies, Asian diaspora history, world history, and economic sociology who seek a comprehensive understanding of transnational networks over two centuries. It will also benefit policymakers, development practitioners, and professionals working in migration-related fields who need historical context for contemporary Asian migration patterns, remittance flows, and diaspora engagement strategies. General readers interested in globalization, cultural identity formation, or the historical roots of modern Asian communities worldwide will find the narrative both informative and accessible.