Work, Family and Integration

Dr. Meenakshi Thapan is a trustee of the Krishnamurti Foundation of India and currently the Director of Rishi Valley Education Centre in rural Andhra Pradesh. During her university years, she taught briefly at the Rishi Valley School and later conducted her field research within this school community, resulting in the publication of her first book, Life at School: an ethnographic study (OUP, 1991, 2006). Subsequently, she has been a highly accomplished academician, based at the University of Delhi, both in the Department of Education, and later at the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics. She has travelled widely, teaching, speaking and contributing to university departments all over the world. She is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards, apart from being the author of numerous books, research papers and articles in several prominent publications. She was series editor of a five volume series on Women and Migration in Asia (SAGE, 2005-2008) and is currently series editor of Education and Society in South Asia (Oxford University Press, 2018-ongoing).Prior to joining Rishi Valley Education Centre in 2019 as its Director, Dr. Thapan held the positions of Professor of Sociology and Director,  Delhi School of Economics as well as Head of the D.S. Kothari Centre for Science, Ethics and Education at the University of Delhi.

“The study is about Punjabis who are both Hindu and Sikh and those who are struggling to establish themselves in a new community. It’s a well-researched study using both quantitative and ethnographic data that provides the Italian context well and shows the challenges of both work and family through a gendered lens. I recommend that it is read by scholars of migration, diaspora, and those looking at Punjabis in different parts of the world.” (Aparna Rayaprol, South Asian Diaspora, September 16, 2024)"This book is the culmination of that field-based research project on the ‘lived experiences’ ofmostly Punjabi families working in the Emilia-Romagna region producing Parmesan cheese and marks a major contribution to studies on Indian emigration and more generally the literature on immigrant integration. ... There are several reasons this book breaks new ground in the vast literature on Indian migration and diaspora." (Chinmay Tumbe, The Book Review, Vol. 48 (4), 2024)

• Introduction: Migration and Food Production in Emilia-Romagna.- Migration, Transnationalism, Culture.- Social Isolation, Uncertainty and Change: Women's experience of Mobility and its Consequences.- The Dilemmas of Being Young and an Immigrant: Family, Belonging, and Freedom.- Pathways of Integration: Individual and Collective Strategies for ‘Co-integration’.