Professor's book tells about Bangladeshi-Americans

The book, “The Bangladeshi Diaspora in the United States after 9/11: From Obscurity to High Visibility,” profiles the Bangladeshi community in the United States.

Rahman, being from Bangladesh, maintains connections with the community and conducts research involving that community.

“To some extent the book reflects my life. I’m very involved in this project,” Rahman said. 

This is Rahman’s first book published in the United States. He also published a book prior to moving to the United States from Bangladesh.

The new book, available from Amazon.com, is part of a series called “The New Americans: Recent Immigration & American Society.” Texas based LFB Scholarly Publishing publishes the series that focuses on stories about the new immigrant communities of America.     

Almost half a million people of Bangladeshi origin live in the United States. Rahman’s book chronicles how Bangladeshi-Americans, mostly first-generation immigrant Muslims, have gone through a significant transformation in their lives and identity constructions in the backdrop of post-9/11 backlash.

The book also discusses the roles of transnational media on how Bangladeshi-Americans think of their lives in the United States.

Data for the book were partly collected when Rahman conducted research for his doctoral dissertation in 2006 and 2007. However, Rahman said that he had to revise his dissertation substantially and update the information.

“The primary readers of your dissertation are your committee members but the book must be targeted to general readers,” Rahman said.