Migration, Identity and Post-Colonial Change in Uganda: A Goan Perspective

While the story of South Asian migration to Uganda in the early twentieth century is familiar, in general terms, a second migration, from the 1980s onwards, has not attracted much attention. Using a combination of archival research and oral history interviews conducted in India, Uganda, Canada and the UK, and focusing on migrants from Goa, this paper suggests that colonial and post-colonial migrants have different perceptions of and attitudes towards each other, their neighbours and the colonial, later Ugandan, state. These perceptions and attitudes can best be understood as the result of historical contingencies that contributed distinctly to the formation of their identities. The case study raises important questions about the nature of divisions within 'diasporic' communities, how they are maintained or constructed, and their implications for understandings of what constitutes a 'diaspora'.