From subjects to citizens: British ‘East African Asians’

Abstract

In the 25 years since their expulsion the Uganda Asian refugees, in concert with earlier arrivals from East Africa, have made remarkable economic and cultural progress to become one of Britain's wealthiest minority ethnic communities with a strong cultural presence. The majority of the refugees and migrants are Gujaratis, a people with whom the British have shared a joint history spanning four centuries and three continents. In this article, I trace this joint history in Gujarat and East and Central Africa, laying emphasis upon the social consequences of the military imperialisms that, for some seven centuries, rendered Gujaratis subjects of foreign powers. It is argued that, as political subjects, certain Gujarati groups were able to prosper economically whilst retaining their cultural traditions. This historically evolved socio‐economic pattern finds expression in the Gujarati ‘merchant ideology’. It is suggested that in contemporary Britain East African Asians are no longer political subjects but, for the first time, prosperous and successful citizens of the country in which they live. This transition from subjects to citizens may have disruptive repercussions upon their culture, challenges which are most likely to be met by the rising generations.