This historical analysis explores Guyanese immigration to the United States as well as the development of the Indo-Guyanese ethnic enclave, “Little Guyana,” located in Queens, New York. This thesis moves beyond the romanticized image of ethnic enclaves in New York City and argues that while perhaps picturesque on the surface, Little Guyana is the result of the fraught history of British colonialism, slavery, and indentured servitude and the sociocultural resilience of the Indo-Guyanese people. Using Little Guyana as a window onto the Indo-Guyanese American experience this thesis explores the ways in which racial tensions in Guyana have taken shape in the United States, how the Indo-Guyanese assert their distinctness from the Indian diaspora and how the community selectively draws from and rejects aspects of their past to create their double diaspora identity.
","abstract_html":"<p>This historical analysis explores Guyanese immigration to the United States as well as the development of the Indo-Guyanese ethnic enclave, “Little Guyana,” located in Queens, New York. This thesis moves beyond the romanticized image of ethnic enclaves in New York City and argues that while perhaps picturesque on the surface, Little Guyana is the result of the fraught history of British colonialism, slavery, and indentured servitude and the sociocultural resilience of the Indo-Guyanese people. Using Little Guyana as a window onto the Indo-Guyanese American experience this thesis explores the ways in which racial tensions in Guyana have taken shape in the United States, how the Indo-Guyanese assert their distinctness from the Indian diaspora and how the community selectively draws from and rejects aspects of their past to create their double diaspora identity. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Baldeo, Kiran J"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (M.A.)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Anne Kornhauser","Laurie Woodard"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:28Z","subjects":["Guyanese","Indo-Guyanese","Little Guyana","double diaspora","immigration","identity formation","Cultural History","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","United States History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/813","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Anne Kornhauser","Laurie Woodard"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Baldeo, Kiran J"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-05-17T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Guyanese","Indo-Guyanese","Little Guyana","double diaspora","immigration","identity formation","Cultural History","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","United States History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/813"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This historical analysis explores Guyanese immigration to the United States as well as the development of the Indo-Guyanese ethnic enclave, “Little Guyana,” located in Queens, New York. This thesis moves beyond the romanticized image of ethnic enclaves in New York City and argues that while perhaps picturesque on the surface, Little Guyana is the result of the fraught history of British colonialism, slavery, and indentured servitude and the sociocultural resilience of the Indo-Guyanese people. Using Little Guyana as a window onto the Indo-Guyanese American experience this thesis explores the ways in which racial tensions in Guyana have taken shape in the United States, how the Indo-Guyanese assert their distinctness from the Indian diaspora and how the community selectively draws from and rejects aspects of their past to create their double diaspora identity.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Dark Underbellies of the Littles: A History of the Indo-Guyanese Diaspora, Race and Identity"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Anne Kornhauser","Laurie Woodard"],"dc:creator":["Baldeo, Kiran J"],"dc:date.available":["2025-05-17T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This historical analysis explores Guyanese immigration to the United States as well as the development of the Indo-Guyanese ethnic enclave, “Little Guyana,” located in Queens, New York. This thesis moves beyond the romanticized image of ethnic enclaves in New York City and argues that while perhaps picturesque on the surface, Little Guyana is the result of the fraught history of British colonialism, slavery, and indentured servitude and the sociocultural resilience of the Indo-Guyanese people. Using Little Guyana as a window onto the Indo-Guyanese American experience this thesis explores the ways in which racial tensions in Guyana have taken shape in the United States, how the Indo-Guyanese assert their distinctness from the Indian diaspora and how the community selectively draws from and rejects aspects of their past to create their double diaspora identity.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/813"],"dc:subject":["Guyanese","Indo-Guyanese","Little Guyana","double diaspora","immigration","identity formation","Cultural History","Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies","United States History"],"dc:title":["The Dark Underbellies of the Littles: A History of the Indo-Guyanese Diaspora, Race and Identity"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (M.A.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:57:28Z"}