Reconstructing culture: seasonal labour migration and the cultural geographies of social change in rural western India

This paper focuses on seasonal labour migration in rural India to examine how migrant returnees sought reconstitute historical and hierarchical social relations their home villages. I use qualitative research conducted Maharashtra state western from 2014–15 among landowning farmers, landless returnees, nonmigrant laborers. demonstrate that for the an important element of cultural change communities was ability upend replace ‘residual culture,’ based expectations continued exploitation performative hierarchy, with ‘emergent’ one. claim mechanics counter-hegemony includes a struggle vernacular equality eliminate caste-based practices humiliation, including exploitation. show attempts by were undercut limits politics, its inability usher entails redistribution resources substantive political power. contributes theoretically textured scholarship geography contestations between elite subordinate cultures, particularly question efforts erase unjust humiliation spatial, social, economic mobility part, enables this effort.