Rather than overlook the internal diversity of postwar Indian and African American political movements, I aim to understand how transnational connections at times elided and at other times accommodated local and national diversities. In certain contexts, transnational connections between India and the United States operated like a funnel, narrowing notions of belonging, often by excluding women, the poor, or low-castes. In other contexts, however, transnational connections acted as a prism, refracting a narrow focus on a particular injustice into a broader concern for the diverse struggles of a variety of oppressed groups, both at home and abroad.
This paper does not idealize interactions borne of selective appropriation and at times outright misunderstanding. The relationship between Indians and African Americans did not entail the clean transfer of ideas, practices, or identities. Rather, a bi-directional process of self-transformation through self-recognition bridged struggles that were themselves internally diverse. Looking abroad and seeing oneself involved reflection in both senses of the word—a partial mirroring and a great amount of thought and practice.
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