SREETAMA BHATTACHARYA

PhD Student

Research Title: An Intergenerational Approach to the Study of Emotional Precarity Among International Skilled Migrants
Research Group: Social and Cultural Geographies (SCG)
Thesis Advisor: Prof Elaine Ho
Co-advisor: Dr Menusha De Silva

My doctoral thesis seeks to understand the everyday experience of the so-called “privileged” migrants using the lens of parenting. While international mobility has been traditionally viewed as an asset and a privilege for skilled migrants, recent research also points to the professional and residential insecurities these migrants face, especially under restrictive immigration regimes in many migrant-receiving nations. In my research, I use an intergenerational lens to foreground the emotional dimensions of precarities that penetrate migratory experiences for skilled immigrants and the parenting strategies employed to navigate these precarities. In an attempt to explore parenting strategies, I also study the nature of parents' encounters with the local population and fellow immigrants in their everyday lives. Using qualitative research methods, I draw upon the experiences of Indian immigrant parents raising their young children in Singapore.

I received my undergraduate Honours degree in Geography from the University of Calcutta and a master’s degree in Geography from the University of Delhi. I also received my M.Phil. in Planning and Development from IIT Bombay. With the experience of having lived in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, and Singapore, my interest lies in migration and the ways it shapes everyday lives in cities. I am particularly interested in transnational family dynamics, gendered societal roles, intercultural encounters, and the social reproduction of culture.