Date/Time
Date(s) - 25/09/2024
11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Location
KTH 709

RESEARCH IN PROGESS SEMINAR

The Canadian Bangladeshi Diaspora: Acculturation Strategies in Toronto and Hamilton

Dr. Mehnaaz Momen
Fulbright Scholar, Department of Political Science
McMaster University

The number of Bangladeshi immigrants in Canada has reached around 100,000 and their presence is quite visible in the sociopolitical landscape of their chosen country. The concentration of Bangladeshis in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) deserves special mention as Bengali restaurants and social gatherings for Bengali festivals have become familiar sites on the streets of Scarborough and Danforth, particularly Victoria Park Avenue. Scarborough even has a Bangladeshi-born representative (NDP Member of Provincial Parliament), Doly Begum.

Most of the academic immigration research on Bangladesh focuses on the economic aspects of labor exploitation or on identity, mostly generational conflicts and religious unease, but seldom expand to capture the new phenomenon of assertion by immigrants in their host counties. My goal is to highlight the tangible forms of the cultural presence of the Bangladeshi diaspora within the urban façade of the GTHA as examples of their claims on their new homeland. I also want to analyze the role of technology in soothing the conflicts and confusions between two national identities and how it has created a comfort zone for Bangladeshis in Toronto.