Ocean proximity of migration: historical materiality of identity formation and citizenship struggles among the Malaiyaha Tamils in South Asia

This article examines the historical materiality of identity formation among colonial forced migrants through the case of the Malaiyaha Tamils, who were transported from India to Sri Lanka as plantation labourers under British colonial rule. It argues that migrant identities were not merely ethnic or cultural constructs but were historically constituted through the material conditions of migration, labour, and everyday subsistence. The study introduces the concept of Ocean Proximity of Migration to explain how the geographical proximity between India and Sri Lanka enabled large-scale colonial labour transportation and shaped the historical formation of the Malaiyaha Tamil identity. Building on this framework, the article develops the concepts of Productive Identity and Subsistence Identity to demonstrate how plantation labour, housing, food, settlement, and everyday material life became enduring markers of identity formation. It further argues that these historically constituted identities were subsequently mobilised within colonial and postcolonial governance to legitimise labour exploitation, social exclusion, statelessness, and citizenship denial in both Sri Lanka and India. The study draws on multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2021 and 2024, incorporating participant observation, oral histories (n = 5), semi-structured interviews (n = 40), and documentary analysis. By linking historical materialism with migration, identity, and citizenship, the article offers a new conceptual framework for understanding the long-term consequences of colonial labour migration and contributes to contemporary debates on migration, statelessness, citizenship, and postcolonial governance.