Decisions about Home: How Migrant Decision-Making Shapes Belonging for non-Bengali Muslims* in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bengal has had a rich and complex history of migrations, well before and after the Partition in 1947. Non-Bengali Muslims* leaving India, such as people from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, have also called Bangladesh home. Despite this, the experiences of Partition-era migrants in decision-making remain understudied. Using ethnographic, qualitative methods such as in-depth, semi-structured interviews and the author’s own autoethnographic observations, this study aims to fill this gap by exploring migration decision-making. Drawing on theories of mobility capital, tangible and intangible inequalities and the politics of belonging, this article examines the role of economic opportunity, social networks and cultural memory in shaping migrant’s decisions and their experience of homemaking in a new land. The findings show how migrants’ conditions before migrating and their experiences of inequalities, both tangible and perceived, inform the decisions they make during their migration journey, as well as the role women play in keeping cultural memory alive and creating home. Ultimately, by foregrounding the lived experiences of non-Bengali Muslims, this study highlights the internal diversities that exist within Bangladesh.