City of strangers: Gulf migration and the Indian community in Bahrain

Introduction : structural violence and transnational migration in the Gulf states -- Pearls, oil, and the British Empire : a short history of Bahrain -- Foreign labor in peril : the Indian transnational proletariat -- Strategic transnationalism : the Indian diasporic elite -- The public sphere : social clubs and voluntary associations in the Indian community -- Contested identities, contested positions : English-language newspapers and the public sphere -- The invigorated state : transnationalism, citizen, and state -- Conclusion : Bahrain at the vanguard of change in the Gulf

Exploring the everyday experiences of workers from India who have migrated to Bahrain, this study contributes significantly to our understanding of politics and society among the Persian Gulf states and of the migrant labor phenomenon that is an increasingly important aspect of globalization