This book explores the experiences of ‘Indo-Mozambicans,’ citizens and residents of Mozambique who can trace their origins to the Indian subcontinent, a region affected by competing colonialisms during the twentieth century. Drawing from ethnographic interviews, the author illustrates why migration developed as both an identity marker and a survival tool for Indo-Mozambicans living in Maputo, in response to the series of independence movements and prolonged period of geo-political uncertainty that extended from 1947 to 1992. A unique examination of post-colonialism, the book argues that four pivotal moments in history forced migratory patterns and ethnic identity formations to emerge among Indo-Mozambicans, namely, the end of the British empire in India and the subsequent partition of India and Pakistan in 1947; the end of the Portuguese empire in India, with the annexation of Goa, Daman and Diu in 1961; the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975; and the civil war of Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Framing these historical markers as trigger points for shifts in migration and identity formation, this book demonstrates the layered experiences of people subject to Portuguese colonialism and highlights the important perspective of those ‘left behind’ in migration studies.

Afrasian Transformations explores a dynamic nexus of transregional interactions that is reshaping political relations, economic flows and increasingly mobile lifeworlds on the one hand, and academic practices in African and Asian Studies as well as transregional research on the other.

How can biography and reflexivity become integral processes of an inquiry? How do we apply these processes to our research and to our accounts of ourselves? Presenting studies by migration scholars who are migrants themselves, Migrant Scholars Researching Migration illustrates the creative and affective function of embedding one's research in subjectivity, reflexivity, and personal biography. The book shows that linking personal experiences and biographies with research practices and agendas can be instrumental to the development of knowledges and new methodologies. The authors demonstrate, for instance, how their migration backgrounds have affected what kind of research they ‘should’ conduct. They also describe how their research findings have changed their understanding of their personal positionings as migrants and scholars. This book debunks the dogma of separating the researcher from their investigation by placing the researchers' experiences and multi-layered reflections at the center of their scholarly work. It sheds light on the importance of reflexivity and subjectivity as processes and assets in research rather than obstacles. Migrant Scholars Researching Migration will appeal to researchers and students interested in methodology, biographical research, theories of knowledge, and scholars of migration and diaspora studies. Chapters: Chapter 14 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.