A contemporary archaeology of post-displacement resettlement : Delhi's 1947 partition refugee homescapes

Author/Creator:

Riggs, Erin P., author

Publication/Creation:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2024

Format:

Book

More Details

Additional/Related Title Information

Full Title:

A contemporary archaeology of post-displacement resettlement : Delhi's 1947 partition refugee homescapes / Erin P. Riggs

Series Titles:

Routledge archaeologies of the contemporary world

Variant Titles:

Delhi's 1947 partition refugee homescapes

Subjects/Genre

Genre:

Electronic books

Subjects:

Internally displaced persons--Housing--India--Delhi
Internally displaced persons--India--Delhi--Social conditions
Internally displaced persons--India--Delhi--Economic conditions
Internally displaced persons--Government policy--India
Forced migration--India--Delhi--History--20th century
Delhi (India)--History--20th century
India--History--Partition, 1947--Influence

Description/Summary

Table of Contents:

List of figures -- Acknowledgements -- A city of refugees -- The reuse of a colonial capital as refugee resource -- The government refugee colony and dreams of egalitarianism-cum enterprise -- Refugees and evacuee properties: mitigating memories and meanings in reused out-migrant homes -- Refugees and government colonies: exercising autonomy in allotted space -- Those who build nations: belonging as lived and malleable -- Bibliography -- Index

Bibliography:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Summary:

"This book explores the archaeology of the 1947 Partition, the largest mass migration in human history, and the resulting resettlement of half a million refugees in Delhi, India's capital city. Interweaving material analysis with oral history collection and archival sources, this book considers how Delhi's Partition refugees have interacted with the city's built landscapes through time. It demonstrates how government-built refugee colonies, influenced by both socialist and capitalist design philosophies, provided an effective and adaptable setting for resettlement. In contrast, it illustrates how Delhi's pre-Partition landscapes- including 'evacuee properties' vacated by out-migrating Muslims and sections of the planned, colonial capital- have proven more problematic venues for rehousing. In these contexts, refugee families navigated life within homes shaped by past occupants and colonial-era wealth disparities. The book highlights that despite such difficulties and the unprecedented scale of Partition's impact on Delhi, refugees have obtained an impressive degree of material success and social acceptance in the city. This example challenges assumptions about the aiddependency of refugee communities, the potential effectiveness of public housing, and the mutability of national belonging. This interdisciplinary case study will be of interest to scholars in varied fields of study including archaeology, architectural history, cultural anthropology, human geography, and South Asian studies. Erin"--

Language:

English

Physical Type/Description:

1 online resource (xvi, 246 pages) : illustrations, maps (some color).

Local Note:

Available to current Emory students, faculty and staff.

Biographical/Historical Note:

Erin P. Riggs is an assistant professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a contemporary and historical archaeologist, and her research interests include welfare state initiatives, material culture, built landscapes, national belonging, and displacement in the recent past.

Additional Identifiers

Catalog ID (MMSID):

9938066525302486

ISBN:

9781003247142
1003247148
9781003861805
1003861806
9781003861829
1003861822

Other Identifiers:

doi: 10.4324/9781003247142