A middle-class global mobility? The working lives of Indian men in a west London hotel

Bibliographic Data

ID4263223
AuthorsAdina Batnitzky (University of Oxford, corresponding author), L Mcdowell (0000-0001-7888-0886, University of Oxford), Sarah Dyer (0000-0002-9389-8993, University of Oxford)
Year2008
Volume8
Issue1
Pages51-70
Publication date2008-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Networks (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1470-2266 • E-ISSN: 1471-0374
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1471-0374.2008.00185.x
OpenAlexW2047801223
LanguageEN
Citations received46
References cited52

In this article we examine the working lives of young, single, middle-class Indian men employed in the increasingly global hospitality sector in London, UK. Using a case study of a single hotel, we investigate a particular form of Indian middle-class global mobility that differs from both the well-documented 'low status', unskilled migrant as well as the highly-skilled, science oriented migrants. We explore how their jobs both reinforce and challenge middle-class Indian notions of masculinity, as well as how the recruitment process is both gendered and economically selective. We suggest that the transnational formation of Indian middle-class identity is drawn from four main categories: a middle-class lifestyle in India, class-based motivations, the gendered and class based recruitment process of the UK hospitality industry, and the performance of class-based gender identities

Hospitality · Masculinity · Middle class · Political science · Sociology · Tourism · Working class · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Socioeconomic Development in Asia

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