ABSTRACT

In post-colonial formations, the existence of ethnic immigrant communities has been taken for granted. While these communities often have been portrayed as a natural response to the inclusion of ‘immigrants’ into Western societies, this essay illustrates that their emergence needs to be placed in the context of imperial and national struggles over the racial composition of white settler societies. In addition, I demonstrate that it has been through such struggles that female migrants from India have been racialised and gendered as creators of ethnic social spaces.