The Migration Process: Capital, Gifts and Offerings among British Pakistanis

by Pnina Werbner

Overview

This study, which breaks new ground in urban research, is a comprehensive and definitive account of one of the many communities of South Asians to emerge throughout the Western industrial world'since the Second World War - the British Pakistanis in Manchester. This book examines the cultural dimensions of immigrant entrepreneurship and the formation of an ethnic enclave community, and explores the structure and theory of urban ritual and its place within the immigrant gift economy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781859736647
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/01/2002
Series:	Explorations in Anthropology
Pages:	412
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Pnina Werbner Senior Lecturer,Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Keele

Table of Contents

Introduction Part I: Capital Accumulation 1. Chains of Migrants: Culture, Value and the Housing Market 2. Chains of Entrepreneurs: The Production of an Enterprise Culture Part II: The Gift Economy: Women, Gifts and Offerings 3. Marriage, Exchange and the Reproduction of Inequality 4. Circles of Trust: Women and the Control of Ceremonial Exchange 5. Giving to God: The 'Naturalisation' of Ritual 6. Circles of Trust: Multiple Domains of Exchange 7. Circles of Trust: From Commodities to Gifts Part III: Conspicuous Giving and Public Generosity 8. Hierarchical Gift Economies 9. Wedding Rituals and the Symbolic Exchange of Substance 10. The Organisation of Giving and Immigrant Elites

Editorial Reviews

A major contribution to the literature on ethnic minorities in Britain.” —MAN

“...a wealth of data...and clarity of analysis...this book is a must. It is also important reading for those interested in the social organization and rituals of South Asian Islamic communitites.” —Anthropos

“Werbner's study makes a valuable and readable contribution to the comparative literature on gift-economies in 'capitalist commoditised' societies. Recommended for all serious collections in anthropology and sociology.” —Choice

“...one of the most exhaustive studies to date of a South Asian diaspora in Britain...” —American Anthropologist

“...a fascinating insight into an ethnic minority culture of Muslim origin.” —Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations

From the Publisher

...a fascinating insight into an ethnic minority culture of Muslim origin.

Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations

...one of the most exhaustive studies to date of a South Asian diaspora in Britain...

American Anthropologist

Werbner's study makes a valuable and readable contribution to the comparative literature on gift-economies in 'capitalist commoditised' societies. Recommended for all serious collections in anthropology and sociology.

Choice

...a wealth of data...and clarity of analysis...this book is a must. It is also important reading for those interested in the social organization and rituals of South Asian Islamic communitites.

Anthropos

A major contribution to the literature on ethnic minorities in Britain.

MAN