Desi Land was an interesting look at modern day consumptions ad its implications for status by a particular social group. While the many experiences highlighted in this the Desis are not necessarily indicative of all immigrant groups, this study makes me wonder what is seen as progress for recent immigrants to America. From what we have read for today there seemed to be little focus on education as a tool to gain cultural capital. It only seemed to work as a means to an end for the families and the students mentioned, in that education in itself is not a sign of progress. For example, in the conclusion when one of the fathers, Mr. Malik, berated Shankar for not advising his child to do well in school so he could make a lot of money in the future. I’m curious to see if this particular trend continues down through the generations.
The explanation and frequent mentioning of the communities also left me with a question. In these tightly knit communities how is the class or income difference resolved. From the descriptions of the students and the communities that they belonged to it was clear that not everyone made the same amount of money. This fact was also likely made clear to everyone in the community due to the continuous flaunting of expensive goods to confirm status. Shankar’s explanation of metaconsumption confirms this. So how then did this not drive divisions in these communities as it does to society as a whole?
Finally, it was interesting to see how the prevailing industry influenced the many students. Many of these children seemed to have little interest in technology, yet due to their surroundings they professed desires to pursue careers in this field. Yet when the technology bubble burst they repudiated these interests for more financially secure ones. I wonder if similar cases occurred in Detroit or Pittsburgh after their own collapse of major industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment