Paradoxes of Being and Becoming South Asian Single Mothers: The Enclave Economy, Patriarchy, and Migration

PALLAVI BANERJEE is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary. She received her PhD in sociology from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2012 and held a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt University. Her research interests are situated at the intersection of sociology of immigration, gender, feminist theory, transnational labor, and minority families. She is currently finishing a manuscript, tentatively titled “Dismantling Dependence: Gendered Migrations and Indian Professional Families under the U.S. Visa Regimes,” that explores how immigration policies and visa regimes of the United States affect Indian professional immigrant families led by men versus those led by women. She has published in such journals as the American Behavioral Scientist, Sociological Forum, and Contexts, among others.

SOULIT CHACKO is a PhD candidate in sociology at Loyola University, Chicago. Her research interests include immigration, gender and families, immigrant women’s work, and the body. Her dissertation explores the lived experiences of Pakistani and Indian low-wage immigrant women workers in ethnic beauty salons.

BHUMIKA PIYA recently completed her PhD in sociology at Vanderbilt University. Her dissertation examines the role of migration in mitigating the negative health mpacts of environmental stress in southwest Bangladesh. In her current role at Water for People, a global nonprofit organization, she supports equitable and sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programming across India.