This lecture explores long-term patterns of mobility in India, drawing upon movements in the colonial period to help understand women’s migration today, specifically in the context of domestic work. In the colonial period, single women’s migration from village to city often resulted in their severance of links with rural areas, meaning they lost access to resources which were contingent upon familial role fulfillment. In recent years, with an increase in migration of women domestic workers, new patterns have become discernible. These shifts and changes challenge the current understanding of gender in migration studies in South Asia.


Prof Samita Sen is Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at the University of Cambridge. She was previously First Vice-Chancellor, Diamond Harbour Women's University, (2013-2015) and Dean of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies, Jadavpur University (2016-2018).

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