Becoming Men in a Modern City: Masculinity, Migration and Globalization in North India

This dissertation explores the formation of contemporary Punjabi Sikh masculinity in North India. Through fifteen months of fieldwork carried out in Chandigarh, the capital city of Punjab, I look at how young Punjabi men belonging to landowning Jat Sikh families develop notions of masculinity and migration. In addition to the traditional gender norm Punjabi men are expected to follow such as getting an arranged marriage, having kids, and supporting their families, most of the men I interviewed characterized successful masculinity as the ability to migrate abroad and become transnational citizens.