Punjabi Immigrant Mobility In the United States: Adaptation Through Race and Class [Paperback]

How did so many Punjabi immigrants come to find themselves behind the wheels of so many New York City taxi cabs, and what do their stories have to teach us about how immigrants must navigate life in a new society? Diditi Mitra analyzes how race and class influence settlement patterns in the United States, based on her extensive interviews with 59 Punjabi taxi drivers, organizers of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, laywers who represent drivers in taxi courts, owners of taxi fleets, and an official of the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission. What emerges is an unprecedented exploration into how society shapes the 'choices' made by immigrants as they adapt to America.Introduction Negotiating the State: Hoping to Belong Looking for work: Punjabi Choices and Punjabi Options On the Wheels of Race and Class Managing Subordination, Becoming Americans Conclusion

Punjabi Immigrant Mobility in the United States is a revealing and intricate contribution to the literature on Punjabi immigrants in contemporary America. Diditi Mitra's research is particularly useful to scholars and students seeking to understand how racial marginalization and class determines the formation of identity for new migrants to the Global North. - Immanuel Ness, author, Guest Workers and Resistance to US Corporate Despotism, professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College, City University of New York

Diditi Mitra provides nuanced insights on the role of race and class in the settlement process and experiences of Punjabi immigrants in the US, particularly of Punjabi taxi drivers in New York City. Woven through with engrossing narratives and thoughtful analysis, this volume makes an important contribution to the fields of migration studies, labor studies and Asian American studies. - Margaret Abraham, professor of Sociology, Hofstra University

Taking the case of ever-visible yet under-studied Punjabi taxi drivers in New York City as her starting poinl³9