The business of postcolonial immigration: marketing of immigration services in Punjab, India.

In this paper, I show that immigration consulting agencies in the Doaba region of Punjab, India, mobilise the imaginary of the 'West' as a place to be successful and modern in order to sell their services. My focus is on the design of promotional materials created by the agencies that are well integ...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Visual Studies Vol. 37; no. 4; pp. 363 - 378
Autor principal: Mitra, Diditi
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Sep2022
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:In this paper, I show that immigration consulting agencies in the Doaba region of Punjab, India, mobilise the imaginary of the 'West' as a place to be successful and modern in order to sell their services. My focus is on the design of promotional materials created by the agencies that are well integrated into the visual landscape of this region. Thus I analyse this imaginary as presented in banners, posters, and signboards. The visual data is complemented with semi structured interviews conducted with staff and owners at the agencies, ethnographic observations as well as information gleaned from the agencies' websites. The study is novel in its exploration of the visual environment in pre-migration contexts where international migration is portrayed as a central path to prosperity. It is exploratory in nature and raises many questions for future researchers to pursue.