Writing the City in British Asian Diasporas

"How have British cities been transformed by the settlement of Asian immigrants and in what ways did these cities crucially shape newcomers’ lives? Like a kaleidoscope refracting alternative patterns, the answer to this question lies, this marvellous collaborative volume shows, in the multiple voices writing the Asian diaspora’s urban experience – anthropologists, sociologists, poets, novelists, oral and cultural historians, politicians, policy-makers and journalists. Avoiding sweeping, essentialist generalisations, the book’s comparative scholarship and fine attention to detail demonstrate the depth and subtlety with which the Asian diaspora in Britain has been researched and analysed. Recommended reading for anyone teaching on migration and diaspora, and a must for new researchers on the Asian diaspora." - Pnina Werbner, Keele University

"Britain’s cities have been indelibly shaped through centuries of migration and settlement. In this wonderfully evocative and richly textured book, the authors trace the historical and contemporary inscriptions of five iconic British Asian cities – Birmingham, Bradford, Leicester, London and Manchester. Exploring multiple ways and scales of ‘writing’ the city, these essays remind us that ‘all cities are global cities’, woven from diasporic and local (hi)stories, journeys and the imagination of home." - Claire Alexander, University of Manchester

"The key strength of the work as a whole is as a model for a new kind of criticism that draws on an eclectic yet complementary mix of sources and approaches in order to complicate and undermine dominant narratives about British Asians through localised and deep studies." - Sarah Ilott, South Asian Diaspora