AU Educate

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mobility aspirations and indigenous belonging among Chakma students in Dhaka

AU - Visser, Jacco

AU - Gerharz, Eva

PY - 2016/8/31

Y1 - 2016/8/31

N2 - In recent decades, indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHT) in South-east Bangladesh have experienced increased social andspatial mobility. This article investigates how indigenous students fromthe CHT region who have migrated to Dhaka redefine indigenousbelonging. By highlighting the juxtaposition of different forms of mobility(physical and social) the paper responds to a recent trend which hasonly rarely been the subject of scholarly enquiry. In particular, it examinesthe experiences of mobility of individual students and explores theways in which these students justify their quest for higher education tofulfil their aspirations for a better future. The paper also reveals theobstacles students experience in their everyday lives, mainly in theform of stereotypical, often racist talk. It discusses the structural disadvantagesindigenous students face as members of ethnic minorities aswell as the strategies employed by the students to counter them.Furthermore, the paper illustrates how indigenous students negotiateurban lifestyles and redefine modernity and indigeneity simultaneouslyand how migrants face exclusion based on static interpretations ofpeople from the CHT as put forward in mainstream discourses as wellas by transnational indigenous activist networks. These lead to feelingsof alienation between indigenous students and their BengaliBangladeshi peers, leaving students to increasingly draw on indigenousnetworks to achieve mobility

AB - In recent decades, indigenous people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHT) in South-east Bangladesh have experienced increased social andspatial mobility. This article investigates how indigenous students fromthe CHT region who have migrated to Dhaka redefine indigenousbelonging. By highlighting the juxtaposition of different forms of mobility(physical and social) the paper responds to a recent trend which hasonly rarely been the subject of scholarly enquiry. In particular, it examinesthe experiences of mobility of individual students and explores theways in which these students justify their quest for higher education tofulfil their aspirations for a better future. The paper also reveals theobstacles students experience in their everyday lives, mainly in theform of stereotypical, often racist talk. It discusses the structural disadvantagesindigenous students face as members of ethnic minorities aswell as the strategies employed by the students to counter them.Furthermore, the paper illustrates how indigenous students negotiateurban lifestyles and redefine modernity and indigeneity simultaneouslyand how migrants face exclusion based on static interpretations ofpeople from the CHT as put forward in mainstream discourses as wellas by transnational indigenous activist networks. These lead to feelingsof alienation between indigenous students and their BengaliBangladeshi peers, leaving students to increasingly draw on indigenousnetworks to achieve mobility

KW - Mobility;

KW - Belonging

KW - Bangladesh

KW - Chittagong Hill Tracts

KW - university education

U2 - 10.1080/19472498.2016.1223718

DO - 10.1080/19472498.2016.1223718

M3 - Journal article

VL - 7

SP - 370

EP - 385

JO - South Asian History and Culture

JF - South Asian History and Culture

SN - 1947-2501

IS - 4

ER -