The expansion of the British Empire facilitated movement across the globe for both the colonizers and the colonized. This talk will focus on the largely forgotten group of South Asian travelling ayahs (servants and nannies), who traveled between India and Britain while caring for British families on the move, influenced the various consumptions in British homes, and held certain privileges in "homes in crisis." Delving into the stories of individuals travelling ayahs from a wide range of sources, this talk will illuminate their influences on British consumption cultures, their brave struggle to assert their rights, and more.
Dr Arunima Datta is an award-winning historian at the University of North Texas and QM IHSS Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Studies of Home, a partnership between Queen Mary University of London and Museum of the Home. Arunima's research focuses on labour, women's history, food and emotions and her publications include Waiting on Empire: a History of Indian Travelling Ayahs (2023, OUP) and Fleeting Agencies: a Social History of Indian Coolie Women in British Malaya (2021, CUP).
The seminar is convened by the Centre for Studies of Home, Centre for the Study of the 19th Century and its Legacies, and Public Humanities Network, all in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.
Arunima is also speaking at Housewarming: a Victorian Home from Kolkata to London at Musuem of the Home on Thursday 27th March, 6-9pm.
The seminar and discussion will be followed by a drinks reception.
