“A lot has been written about the history, culture, traditions and rituals of the Kodavas, a small race residing in the foothills of the western ghats in southern India. Here, Chand Somaiah scrutinizes many of the rituals and customs that are followed by Kodava women, particularly during motherhood, but also before and beyond the maternal arc. And this she does by focussing on Kodava women who live outside their own motherland, so to speak. It is undoubtedly a huge task. The book is meticulously researched, very detailed and never falters in specificity or focus. It is a solid record, an essential and learned compendium for teaching institutions and libraries and anyone interested in the traditions of small communities compelled to live far away from their origins.”
—Kavery Poonacha Nambisan, Surgeon and Novelist
“With the book Cosmopolitan Maternalisms, Bittiandra Chand Somaiah opens an important new line of sociological inquiry that places mothering at the center of debates surrounding modernity, progress, and cosmopolitanism. Mothers raise future generations not only for individual nations but also for a global community. Yet, despite this profoundly civic role, mothers, especially ethnic or immigrant mothers, are portrayed as constrained by the intensive demands of reconciling traditional ideas of good mothering with modernist ideals of a globalized world. Somaiah offers a sociologically nuanced and refreshing approach, recasting mothers as active negotiators who refit intimate, localized practices such as naming rituals of their children, or maintaining ethno-linguistic communities through food and care work, to align with the rhythm of transnational lives. While grounded in the empirical study of Coorg women spread across three distinct geo-cultural contexts—India, Singapore, and Australia— the book’s conceptual contribution extends far beyond this case, making a compelling argument for understanding mothers as, first and foremost, modern social actors.”
—Jaita Talukdar, Loyola University New Orleans
“Cosmopolitan Maternalisms is a remarkable contribution to the study of immigrant mothering. As a fellow mother who is originally from Coorg, I read Chand Somaiah's work with a particular sense of recognition. She draws a compelling portrait of mothering practices as they travel, adapt, and endure across generations and geographies. Drawing on interviews with 43 Coorg mothers across India, Singapore, and Australia, Somaiah offers a nuanced narrative of women navigating tradition and modernity in the choices they make - the foods that are cooked, the names that are chosen, the languages spoken and the rituals followed. Her concept of "cosmopolitan maternalisms" gives scholars a fresh lens for understanding how minority cultures are sustained through the daily, often overlooked labour of mothers. Essential reading for anyone interested in diaspora, kinship, and the deep-rooted power of parenting.”
—Sarita Mandanna, author of Tiger Hills
“This major contribution to feminist understandings of motherhood traverses national and cultural boundaries to assert the creativity of motherwork that both resists and sustains. Somaiah’s attention to the embodied cultural practices of Kodavathee mothers challenges us to think bigger and more transnationally about even those practices that seem the most culturally specific. This work expresses the author’s love for her community while expanding and opening the praxis of mothering to all who care and sustain life.”
—Smitha Radhakrishnan, Marion Butler McLean Professor in the History of Ideas and Professor of Sociology, Wellesley College and author of Appropriately Indian: Gender and Culture in a New Transnational Class
“The book brilliantly explores the idea of everyday cosmopolitanisms that are messy and (re)enacted through multiple attachments including reattachments. What is exciting in Bittianda Chand Somaiah’s work is that she accomplishes this through studying mothering among the Kodavas, an ethnic minority in Karnataka, India. The ideas of a cosmopolitan modernity that emerges from this revises and subverts dominant and elitist notions of cosmopolitanisms. Chand successfully connects cosmopolitanism and transnationalism with an emphasis on ‘on the ground’ and ‘glocal’ experiences. This is an invaluable contribution to anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and of course minority studies.”
—Sowmya Dechamma C.C., Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Hyderabad