Pallavi Banerjee

Postdoctoral Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Sociology

How do gendered international migrations flows and policies of sending and host countries affect everyday lives of immigrant families?

My research interests are situated at the intersections of sociology of international migration, globalization, gender, and minority families. My empirical and theoretical research goals are to identify structural processes through which the state, corporations, and other related institutions operate as intricately connected gendered labor regimes. I seek to understand how these processes affect the lived experiences of immigrant workers and their families across public and private spheres in both host and sending countries.

I am currently working on a book project that examines how U.S. visa policies affect Indian high-skilled migrant workers and their families. I focus on two migrant family types: those led by high-tech males and those led by female registered nurses. Using ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews with family members and immigration experts,, and archival data on visa laws, I identify the multi-layered hidden gendered and raced underpinnings of visa laws. I show how visa structures of the state create a web of dependence, trapping migrant workers and their spouses. My research has strong policy implications in that it shows that visa policies for skilled-workers and their families create oppressive structures both at work and home.