In Malawi, net enrolment rates at secondary level are less than 30%. Most children do not complete primary school; others are discouraged by the costs of secondary schooling. Most secondary school students go to government schools, but private schools enrol about 20%. These private schools include a range of prices and quality, but all are unaffordable for those outside the wealthiest quintile. This paper explores 15 lower price private secondary schools. It describes the students in the schools, their teachers, their infrastructure and their business model. We find that while private secondary schools provide access to secondary school for some children who cannot go to government schools, they do not provide sustainable quality secondary education that could be extended to children outside the top quintile of household wealth.
This paper provides a new analysis of private secondary education in Malawi. Malawi remains one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the lowest levels of participation in secondary schooling. As in other countries in Sub Saharan Africa, economic liberalization has led to the development of fee paying private schools to respond to excess demand for places. The paper charts the development of private secondary schooling over the last 20 years, explores the characteristics of households and pupils attending private schools, and illuminates key issues for the future development of the education system arising from changing patterns of provision. The research is based on an analysis of secondary data at national level, insights from a data base on private schools, and empirical case studies in fifteen schools using interviews and a survey of 1000 students. Key findings are that the private schools are very unevenly distributed geographically, the great majority of children in private secondary schools are from families in the top quintile by wealth in Malawi, the lowest price private schools remain unaffordable to all except the richest households, and enrolments in all but the highest performing schools were stable or declining with much volatility and school transfer from year to year. The governance of private schools varied greatly and most had accountability only to their owners. Teaching staff were often poorly qualified and very transient with high turnover and informal contracts of employment. Learning materials and furniture in most schools in the sample were insufficient to meet minimum standards. The research clearly indicates that there are low limits to the extent that self-financing private schools can contribute to expanding access to secondary schooling in Malawi. The findings of this study have implications for the debate on how best to manage the growth of private for profit schooling at secondary level and how to support expanded access to secondary education in ways that are both equitable and financially sustainable.
This book is about British Bangladeshi children living and growing up in contemporary London. Benjamin Zeitlyn examines the transnational lives of children who are connected to an array of international events, communities and forces. These engagements and the complex power relations that lie behind them are revealed through an examination of socialisation practices in British Bangladeshi families. In London, the children live in a global city, connected to every part of the world through history, trade, travel, migration and media. As British Bangladeshis, their migration patterns emerged from the connections formed during the British Empire. As British Muslims, their identities are informed by an official and unofficial Islamophobia, fuelled by the 'war on terror' and debates over the relationships between liberal Western states and Islam. British Bangladeshis have found themselves at the centre of these debates, and this book provides revealing insights into how these processes have shaped their childhoods and identities.
Migration for domestic work has become the subject of intense debate among international human rights organisations and policy makers concerned with the welfare of workers who are predominantly women from poor and historically disadvantaged communities. A review of the literature on South-South migration for domestic work was undertaken to assess the evidence base that underpins this debate. It shows that there is little discussion of the reasons for such migration and the impact that it has on households at origin. There is an assumption that domestic workers are driven by poverty into occupations that further entrench poverty. The literature is dominated by papers focusing on the shortcomings of legal frameworks for regulating working conditions and recruitment practices, resulting in extremely exploitative conditions of employment. Although a few papers discuss worker agency these are not influencing policy debates, which continue to treat migrant domestic workers as victims. There dearth of research on the impacts of migration of such migration on households at origin is a significant gap in the literature given that migration is often a household strategy to access more remunerative employment in other places and remit money home.
Bangladesh is a country that appears only on the margins of western news and academic interest. When it does, it is usually in the context of catastrophes. In this Introduction to the special issue, we agree with Lewis (2011) that this large, complex and dynamic country merits more attention. Looking at it through the lens of ‘contested narratives’ centring on identities, notions of home and belonging in transnational Bangladeshi communities and the development, economy and politics of the country, we identify areas in which these contested narratives are particularly pertinent to current events in Bangladesh and which the papers in this special issue touch upon.
This paper analyses responses in London to the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh and protests associated with it in 2013. Based on analysis of websites, social media and interview material, it examines interpretations of contemporary events in Bangladesh. The article makes no claims to any privileged information or ‘truth’ about these events. Instead, it argues that interpretations of events in Bangladesh by Bangladeshis in London differ from those in Bangladesh. Recent events in Bangladesh have led to an increase in transnational political activism among some British Bangladeshis. In London there have been concerted attempts to challenge dominant discourses about Bangladesh’s Liberation War and contemporary politics. In many cases these are related to or inspired by Islamic political movements that have become influential among British Bangladeshis.
This paper explores the relationships between poverty and rural-urban migration in Ethiopia. It draws upon research particularly of migration for work in the construction industry and domestic work. The paper describes and analyses migration from a poor rural woreda (district) in northern Ethiopia, to the nearby city of Bahir Dar and the capital, Addis Ababa. Extreme poverty is one of the main driving factors behind these flows of migration. Our research suggests that migration of this type does not lead to immediate flows of remittance income from migrants to their households. We explain why this is, and how migrants and their households nevertheless plan to move out of poverty. We argue that there are important non-economic factors and long-term strategies that encourage migration even where working conditions are hard and returns are low.
This review of the published academic literature on internal and regional migration for domestic work in Africa and Asia shows a dearth of studies on internal migration for domestic work in South Asia, and both internal and regional migration for domestic work in East Africa and West Africa. The existing literature is heavily dominated by papers on the transnational migration of domestic workers from South East and East Asia which examine in detail the shortcomings of the legal framework for regulating working conditions and recruitment practices resulting in little protection for migrant workers against exploitation. The paper highlights the serious lack of attention paid to the impacts of migration for domestic work on poverty levels within families in source areas. This is a significant gap in the literature given that migration is usually a household decision in which one member migrates to access more remunerative employment and remit money home. The paper offers a number of suggestions for improving the evidence base on this important migration stream.
This working paper reviews evidence from the literature on internal migration for work in construction in developing countries. The literature reviewed was found through a search of academic databases and selected by the authors. The review identifies cases and contexts in which migration for construction work leads to exits from poverty as well as those in which it entrenches poverty. We also focus upon migrant selectivity and discourses within the literature about migration for construction work. The review identifies gaps in the literature and important themes, in particular those issues and phenomena relating to poverty and development. The small and diverse set of literature, identified for the purpose of this paper, focuses mainly on South Asia. Several areas for future research are suggested throughout the paper and in the concluding section.
This chapter explores the strong relationships between exclusion from
education, poverty, malnutrition and poor health in Bangladesh, drawing
on the empirical and conceptual work of the Consortium for Research on
Educational Access Transitions and Equity (CREATE). Using CREATE’s
conceptual model of ‘zones of exclusion’ and the detailed data collected
in Bangladesh as part of the consortium’s work, the chapter describes the
relationships between exclusion from education, poverty, malnutrition
and health. The chapter argues that these complex and multidirectional
relationships point to a need to tackle problems of exclusion from education,
nutrition and health together.
This entry provides a brief introduction to national identity in Bangladesh. It begins with a description of the emergence of the notion of a unified Bengali people linked to the land of Bengal, a reaction to colonialism that merged western ideas of nationhood with local concepts. This is followed by a discussion of nationalism in Bangladesh, linked to the political history of the country, noting the relationships between nationalism and religious, linguistic and ethnic identities. These relationships define different and contested interpretations of nationalism in contemporary Bangladesh and frame how they map onto political positions. Finally the entry examines exclusions from mainstream nationalism in Bangladesh.
This paper investigates how preschool attendance is shaped by individual and community factors for 71,806 children from 14,303 communities in 21 low-to middle-income countries using a multilevel analysis. We assess how these mechanisms vary by community and country wealth and the extent to which the variation of preschool uptake can be explained by the characteristics of children living in these communities. We find that of the total variation, 36% was attributable to communities and 12% to countries, with childrens demographic and socioeconomics characteristics explaining 23% of the between community variation. Community wealth and health are crucial determinants; in poor communities with high stunting rates, the chances of preschool attendance are at least halved. Our results suggest that the effect of community on preschool attendance is stronger in poorer countries with greater inequality between communities.
This article traces changing notions of a moral upbringing among British Bangladesh families in London. It reviews ideas of the making of a moral person (manush corano) in Bangladesh and contrasts those with contemporary practices and ideas about the good child in London. It argues that in London, British Bangladeshis have embraced a form of Islam that for them represents progress on the ‘Bengali culture’ that they have left behind and the ‘Western modernity’ that they live amongst, it is a third way. For British Bangladeshi children this involves socialisation into a global Muslim community (umma) and an Islamist interpretation of Islam. Learning to recite the Qur’an correctly (tajweed) is an important manifestation of the third way.
This article draws links between the sense of smell, aesthetic choices concerning clothes, ideas about modernity and the aspirations of young British Bangladeshis. In doing so it highlights the preconscious and conscious factors that inform the identities that British Bangladeshis express. The article argues that despite its importance for our sense of belonging, the sense of smell has been neglected in accounts of identity. This discussion leads to a critique of Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and illustrates the ways in which the conscious elements of habitus draw upon the unconscious. Dispositions towards the smell of Bangladesh feed into ways in which British Bangladeshis express their identities through aesthetic choices and in turn reveal preferences for different discourses of modernity.
This article discusses the emergence of a ‘British Bangladeshi social field’. It makes two connected arguments about its effects. First, it argues that the emergence of the British Bangladeshi social field has rendered the discourses of desh and bidesh less important. Second, it argues that British Bangladeshis are embedded into many transnational social fields and lead multiply orientated rather than binary lives. It uses the example of the importance of the global Islamic umma (community) to British Bangladeshis to illustrate this and argues that it has also contributed to the decreasing importance of the discourse of the desh. What this shows is that the transnationalism of today is very different from that of 20 years ago, both in terms of how it is experienced and how it is analysed.
This article examines the ways in which migration from rural homesteads in Sylhet, Bangladesh, to urban flats in London has affected the practices of British Bangladeshi families around gender and childhood. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu on the “Kabyle house,” I describe relations between the spatial arrangement of homes and practices. Analyzing the “Sylheti bari” (rural homestead) and contrasting it with the “Londoni (British Bangladeshi) flat,” I describe the significance of the way in which ideas of “inside” and “outside” have translated from one setting to another. I will show how the translation of these ideas to the urban landscape in London affects British Bangladeshi practices surrounding headscarf wearing, children’s play, and socializing, as well as attitudes toward school and language.
The visit is a key experience in the socialisation of British Bangladeshi children. It is an emotional and sensory rollercoaster for children which challenges and confirms their sense of who they are. For, while they enjoy some aspects of the visit, they find others deeply unsettling. Visits to Sylhet in Bangladesh give children a lasting lesson in both Sylheti beliefs and practices and their own sense of belonging. Their deep, embodied sense of disorientation makes children feel that they do not belong in Sylhet, despite the importance of the people, places and practices they encounter. This paper explores the impact of visits on British Bangladeshi children's identities and argues that these experiences help to create a distinct British Bangladeshi transnational social field and habitus.
Bangladesh has made great improvements in the scale and quality of access to education in recent years and gender equality has almost been achieved in primary education (World Bank, 2008). Evidence from CREATE’s nationwide community and school survey (ComSS) confirms results from other research (such as Al-Samarrai, 2009) which suggests that poverty remains a barrier to education for many in Bangladesh, where 40% of the population remain below the poverty line (World Bank, 2009). The ComSS data suggest that policies that have been introduced to enable the poor to attend school such as free schooling; subsidised schoolbooks and stipends are not accurately targeted or having the desired effects. Targeted assistance for sections of society who are denied access to education in what is meant by equity in this paper. This goes beyond equal opportunity and seeks justice for those who have been left out.
In this monograph we describe the influence of poverty (measured by income and food security) on indicators of access to education covered by CREATE’s conceptual model, such as children who drop out of school, children who have never enrolled and silent exclusion (measured through poor attendance, poor attainment and repetition). These relationships show a pattern of a series of interrelated links between poverty and exclusion from education.
While the links between physical exclusion from education (never having been to school or dropping out of school) and poverty are relatively easy to understand, it is harder to understand why poor children who are in school do worse and repeat more than their peers from wealthier households. We explore correlations between indicators of silent exclusion from education and health, access to adequate school materials and the type of school attended. What we find is that those who have poor health, lack basic school equipment and live in the catchment areas of non-government schools (who are also often the poor) are more likely to be silently excluded – that is enrolled and overage, attending irregularly or poorly achieving. Using this detailed data we identify policies that will have the greatest effect on improving access to education for those currently out of school and those in school but not learning.
The discursive positioning of Muslims as a ‘security threat’ or ‘enemy within’, in government policies and the media, has cast young Muslim men in particular as criminalized anti-citizens. Meanwhile, since the inception of the Afghanistan campaign, the soldier has become increasingly prominent as a figure of militarized citizenship in the public sphere. This article juxtaposes accounts from Pakistani Muslim youth in the West Midlands with those of soldiers and family members involved with the Hero Net online community, attending to the notion of cultural citizenship – namely, the everyday subjective experience of national belonging beyond its legal–political aspects. Our research suggests that, for both groups, mindful critique or dissent are central to the process through which individuals are brought into being in relation to the nation-state. However, we demonstrate that formations of cultural citizenship in Britain continue to be informed by the logics of race and orientalism. The article offers insights into how gendered and racialized formations of citizenship conjoin with imperialism and militarization.
Researchers and policymakers have limited understanding of how conflicts overseas affect UK communities, aside from when substantial flows of asylum seekers and migrants from conflict regions occur. Yet globalisation has intensified and changed UK communities’ international connections. This research studies the impact on UK communities of three areas of conflict: Afghanistan/Pakistan, the Great Lakes region of Africa, and the Western Balkans.
This paper reflects on experiences of conducting research with transnational children. It brings together criticisms from within anthropology of the conceptualisation of stable and bounded fields, and discussion of conceptual and methodological approaches to researching children and childhoods. Taking research with British Bangladeshi transnational children as a case in point, the paper addresses the challenge of conducting research with transnational and fast-changing communities, arguing that it requires the use of multi-sited methods, an awareness of power relations at research sites, the building of a good rapport with the children and a range of methodological approaches set within long-term ethnographic engagement with research participants.
This paper aims to examine the background and reasons for the rise of Islamic radicalism amongst British Bangladeshis. Islamic 'fundamentalism', anti-western sentiments and the politicisation of Islam have been dominant themes in the media and public consciousness in recent years. Why have Islam and western secular democracy come to be seen as irreconcilable enemies? Why do British citizens choose to prioritise or emphasise their Islamic identity over and against their British identity? Why are radical forms of political Islam attractive? These are questions that will be examined here.
For centuries India has been a destination and a source of migrants. Although a significant proportion of skilled workers tend to migrate to countries such as Australia, UK and the US, the less skilled migrant workers are employed in the Middle East as well as South East Asian countries. This study focuses on those temporary migrants who return to India once they have completed their short term employment contracts. They invest their skills and in some cases their savings in business ventures with success. Such return migrants can loosely be classified as forced returnees, wilful returnees, financially well positioned returnees who are rish in skills but short on finances. The case studies presented in this report are drawn from this hetrogeneous group and reveal their success in entrepreneurship after their return to India.
Using research on the British Bangladeshi community in London that from my Dphil research, I will examine the notion of a 'second and third generation' of British Bangladeshis and the extent to which young British Bangladeshis continue to engage in transnational behaviour. A British Bangladeshi transnational community is now well established both in the UK and in Sylhet. Transnational practices maintain links between the two locations. British Bangladeshi patterns of marriage, for example, interrupt the idea of a neat progression of gradually 'more British' generations. Transnational practices are fuelled by communication and travel which are now cheaper and easier than ever. However we define a British Bangladeshi community, there is still a stark divide between the two principal locations in this community. How these issues and practices translate into beliefs and a sense of belonging is variable and unpredictable. I will engage with debates from the US about transnationalism, assimilation and the 'second generation'. Specifically, the transnational social fields approach used by Levitt and Glick Schiller (2004) and Glick Schiller and Fouron (2002) to British Bangladeshis in order to critique the idea of immigrant generations.
This policy brief describes patterns of access to Low Fee Private (LFP) schools in Uttar Pradesh in India. It explores how the marketisation of primary education has affected the provision of primary education and factors affecting school choice. LFP schools have been presented as a solution to a lack of provision by the state; research suggests however, that they do not constitute a simple solution to the problems of extending access to basic education to the poor and ultra poor. It is based on findings from CREATE Pathways to Access Monograph Number 23: School Choice for the Poor? The limits of marketisation of primary education in rural India (Harma, 2010).
It is now widely recognised that migration is one of the most significant global phenomena and challenges of the 21st century. This is especially relevant to Bangladesh, as a major supplier of labour to the world market. The economy of Bangladesh relies heavily on remittances, which dwarf foreign direct investment and development assistance. In recent years, both government and civil society in Bangladesh have realised these facts and several important steps have been taken to improve the governance of migration. There remain many challenges ahead and much room for improvement. One of the most pressing problems facing migrants and the good governance of migration is widespread lack of awareness about the complexities of migration. It has been recognised by academic studies and in the experiences of other major migrant sending countries that initiatives to disseminate information about these issues and properly train migrant workers can significantly reduce the negative effects and enhance the positive outcomes of migration. The twin tasks of wide dissemination of information about how to process migration for those who want to migrate and training of those who are already in the process of migration are enormous. This report looks into Sri Lanka and Philippines’ experiences in safe migration information campaigns and in the area of pre-departure orientation training. This provides an assessment from which examples of good practice and lessons have been identified. In Sri Lanka, information campaigns on safe migration include community-level interventions, drama, talk shows and discussion programmes in mass media and consultations with returnees which are carried out by the government, NGOs, trade unions and church groups. The role of NGOs is limited more or less to providing prospective migrants with information and finding a solution to the problems of returnees. As far as Pre-Departure Orientation Training is concerned, the Sri Lankan Government provides two - three weeks compulsory PDOT for female housemaids combining skills training on household management, language and general orientation. Although a public-private partnership has emerged in Sri Lanka where recruitment agents supplement some of the government’s training under the guidance and monitoring of the government, NGOs in Sri Lanka feel alienated from this system. The study in the Philippines reveals that the country has an institutionalised information campaign run by the government through press, television, radio and person to person contact. NGOs in the Philippines are also involved in information campaigns often in collaboration with the government, or based on a government model. The Filipino PDOTs conducted by designated government institutions primarily aim to prepare migrants for the journey and inform them about how they can benefit from migration. Whilst in the majority of trainings, lectures, discussions and videos are the most common methods, these have been designed as much as possible to be effective in the time allotted. In order to expand training 5 programmes to reach the maximum amount of migrants, the Government of the Philippines has involved NGOs and recruitment agencies in pre-departure training and information campaigns. Recruitment agencies and NGOs benefit from this partnership financially, in their influence on policy and with their ability to attract migrants to their organisations. It was found from the Bangladesh experiences that the Government of Bangladesh has made some investment in information campaigns through mass media. However, due to the sporadic nature of such interventions no tangible results can be observed. Migrant associations and civil society organisations play an important role in information campaigns through the production of materials such as training modules, drama, documentary and audio visual materials but those are not disseminated on a wide scale. In Bangladesh, a two-hour PDO programme is conducted by the government using a lecture-based method for outgoing migrants who have completed their formalities and are going abroad on a group-visa. Specialised training NGOs, migrant associations and private recruitment agencies have also involved themselves in PDOTs. Recently, skills training programmes for female migrant workers have been undertaken by the Bangladesh Association of Private Recruitment Agencies (BAIRA) in collaboration with specialist training NGOs. International organisations have played a supportive role in training programmes in Bangladesh, by providing funding and help in developing materials. However, their role must be brought into a wider institutionalised framework to avoid overlapping. Based on the above findings the study puts forward the following recommendation for improving the state of information campaign and pre-departure orientation training for labour migrants in Bangladesh: Information campaigns on safe migration should be a continuous process and should be carried out on a wider scale. Following the model of Sri Lanka and the Philippines, community level programmes should be designed which will create mass awareness through the capacity building of community leaders. More information campaigns through the mass media such as drama, documentary and films are also required. There is a need to create positive ideas about female migration and to make people aware of the potential pitfalls of illegal migration. The existing pre-departure orientation training should be broadened in its scope and improved in quality. This study also assumes the need for special PDOTs for vulnerable groups. Professional trainers should be appointed and the period of training, curriculum and methods should be adapted to make PDOTs interesting and useful to migrants. Most importantly, both information campaigns and pre-departure briefing services should be conducted under a broad national institutional framework. It should replace current project based, multiple agency approaches. A common, all encompassing programme, such as that in the Philippines should be designed under the leadership of BMET and all stakeholders should be involved in that process. Once the programme is chalked out, the government should make its commitment and international organisations should be encouraged to provide assistance to implement particular components. 6 The government, NGOs, civil society organisations, private recruitment agencies, research bodies and international organisations - all have specific roles and responsibilities in implementing the plan of action. The government should create opportunities for NGOs and the private sector so that they can all play a role by using their experience, contacts and expertise in this sector. This will also help develop a system of cooperation and collaboration among the various groups operating in this field.
This policy brief provides an analysis of teachers and teaching learning processes in two states of India. Data was collected from 88 schools in three clusters in Madyha Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (Dindori, Rewa and Rajnandgaon) using CREATEs Community and School Survey (ComSS). This policy brief provides an analysis of that data and suggests some policy implications. While much progress and investment has been made in recent years, the analysis suggests that problems remain with teacher numbers, deployment and training. This policy brief was written by Madhumita Bandyopadhyay, S. Umabati and Benjamin Zeitlyn
Diaspora groups inevitably learn new languages and are often bilingual to varying degrees. Bangladeshis in Britain speak variants of Bangla, the most common being Sylheti. Many, mainly older people or those brought up in Bangladesh speak and understand standard or 'shuddho' Bangla. Most speak English, and those brought up and educated in Britain speak it as their first language. Many Bangladeshi children in Britain also learn Arabic, as part of a Qur'anic education, usually after school or at the weekends. Here I wish to discuss the use of Bangla among British Bangladeshi families living in London and particularly its role and meaning compared to the Bangla dialect Sylheti, English and Arabic. My research into transnational Bangladeshi childhoods in London is part of an AHRC funded project at the University of Sussex. The research took place in Islington, a borough of London not usually associated with Bangladeshis, where a relatively small number of Bangladeshis live. Nearby Tower Hamlets where many more Bangladeshis live, is more commonly associated with Bangladeshis in Britain. By comparing the language practices and attitudes to languages of my respondents with evidence from Bangladesh and Tower Hamlets it is possible to see that Sylheti speakers in London have different practices and attitudes to those in Bangladesh, that people in Islington may use Bangla differently than those in Tower Hamlets, and that these differences may become greater among young second and third generation Bangladeshis in Britain.
Due to frequent absenteeism from school, children perform poorly which causes repetition which in turn makes children vulnerable to drop-out. This group of problems is called silent exclusion (Lewin, 2007) This policy brief explores the causes and correlations of absenteeism, repetition and silent exclusion in India and suggests policy recommendations. The analysis is based on CREATE research in three clusters in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
This paper is the result of research carried out as a SAMReN research fellow in Bangladesh between June and November 2005. It attempts to describe a relatively new migration flow from Bangladesh that has not attracted much academic study before. It attempts to analyse the geopolitical developments in both the source and destination countries that have led to this flow. It attempts to analyse the reasons behind the emergence of this migration pattern, the nature of the often clandestine migration routes and the people behind them. This research builds on research carried out in Madrid in 2004 and extends it on the basis of interviews with migrants, return migrants and experts in Bangladesh and extensive literature, internet and press research. Migrants from Bangladesh to Italy and Spain appear from previous studies in Madrid and Rome to come from a distinct socio-economic group; they are relatively well educated and relatively affluent. Here, this finding is tested in Bangladesh. The results appear to confirm that there is a 'socio-economic segregation' of migrants from Bangladesh, although the mixture of factors that motivate migration flows means that it is not a simple causal relationship. This group come from an emerging demographic in Bangladesh that can be loosely described as the 'middle class'. They have distinct ambitions and resources at their command and distinct migration patterns. In this sense they defy definition within the existing understandings of migration from Bangladesh. This paper hopes to identify and understand this group and their migration behaviour in order to include them in the literature of migration from Bangladesh.
This thesis is about children and transnationalism. It is about the way in which children develop their identities in transnational communities in societies being transformed by globalisation. It is about the reproduction of societies through the socialisation of children and the tension inherent between this reproduction and social change. I set out to study children but became interested in adults’ interactions with children and the nature of transnational communities and identities. As my fieldwork progressed I was drawn away from children into a study of families and societies. So, while children are the empirical focus of this thesis, there are many complementary sections which draw on evidence from adults or only discuss adults. As my description of Shirin and her brother above illustrates, processes and tensions are mediated by children often through seemingly contradictory attitudes and practices. I will investigate this phenomenon of contradiction and ambivalence as it characterises the experiences of the British Bangladeshi children I focus on and is key to understanding way in which identities are formed and experienced. [It] was conceived as part of the research project ‘Home and Away: South Asian Children’s Representations of Diaspora’, which was managed by my supervisor, Dr. Katy Gardner and Dr. Kanwal Mand. One aim of the project was to address a gap in research on the views of transnational children on issues of culture, belonging and identities. The project aims to investigate and bring to the fore the influence of the life course in migration research. This thesis contributes to these aims, but on its own can make only a partial contribution to this field. It is a snapshot of just over a year in the lives of a group of about twenty British Bangladeshi children between the ages of 8 and 12. Added to this material is additional data collected from a wider group of children in less depth, from younger and older siblings and from parents and other adults.