Anand Panamthottam Cherian

Graduate Research Assistant

Sociology: Migration, South Asia, the Gulf

Anand Panamthottam Cherian is a PhD candidate in Sociology at George Mason University and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Global South Hub, Center for Social Science Research. His doctoral research examines labor migration between Kerala and the Gulf, with attention to kinship, debt, and migration infrastructure. He also studies student migration from India, including the role of recruiters.

He previously held research positions at the International Institute of Migration and Development and the Centre for Development Studies, Kerala, where he contributed to the Kerala Migration Survey.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles:

Garvik, M., and A. P. Cherian. 2025. “Indian Nurses in the Gulf: Mobility Capital, Constraints and Aspirations.” Contemporary South Asia 33(3):432-451.

Cherian, A. P., and S. I. Rajan. 2024. “Middle-Class Indian Students: Migration Recruiters and Aspirations.” Population, Space and Place 30(8):e2836.

Cherian, A. P., and S. I. Rajan. 2024. “Migrant Vulnerabilities: ‘Guest Workers’ in Kerala.” Indian Journal of Human Development 18(1):120-134.

Rajan, S. I., and A. P. Cherian. 2021. “COVID-19: Urban Vulnerability and the Need for Transformations.” Environment and Urbanization ASIA 12(2):310-322.

Book Chapters:

Cherian, A. P., & Garvik, M. (2026). Indian Nurses in the Gulf and the UK: The Role of Aspirations and Communities. In Gender and Migration in the Arabian Gulf (pp. 95-116). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.

Rajan, S. I., Cherian, A. P., & Alencherry, N. P. (2024). International student migration: Family-mediated migration trajectories. India Migration Report 2023, 28-41. Routledge India

Rajan, S. I., & Cherian, A. P. (2024). 5. International Student Mobility. India Migration Report 2023: Student Migration, 99. Routledge India

Herath, D., Lakshman, R. W., Rajan, S. I., & Cherian, A. P. (2023). De-housing and re-housing—evictee’s reflections on the process: the experiences of relocation in Colombo and Cochin. In Forced Migration and Urban Transformation in South Asia: Displacement, Resettlement, and Poverty (pp. 79-104). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.

Rajan, S. I., & Cherian, A. P. (2023). Remittances and transnational housing among the Indian diaspora: Home as a project. In Handbook on home and migration (pp. 647-659). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Working Paper:

Cherian, A. P. (2024). No. 31: Precarity, Food Insecurity, and Migration: The Kerala-Gulf Nexus and Women Domestic Workers.

Book Review:

Cherian, A. P. (2025). Remittance as Belonging: Global Migration, Transnationalism, and the Quest for Home. By Hasan Mahmud. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2024. US $38.00, paper. ISBN 9781978840409.

Education

MA, Sociology, Jadavpur University

BA, Sociology, Loyola College, University of Madras

In the Media

2024. Quoted in “For Kerala Women, Migration a Chance to Break Free.” The New Indian Express. November 11.

2024. Quoted in “Life of Migrant Workers in Kerala.” The Times of India.

2021. Rajan, S. I., and A. P. Cherian. “COVID-19 Exposes the Unsustainability of Modern Cities.” Moneycontrol. June 2.(Op-ed)

2021. Rajan, S. I., and A. P. Cherian. “Indian Overseas Students’ Deferred Dreams.” COMPAS, University of Oxford. January 28.(Op-ed)