Monica Rao Biradavolu

Indian Entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley: the Making of a Transnational Techno-capitalist Class Monica Rao Biradavolu

Written by Monica Biradavolu (a sociologist at Yale University), this innovative study examines the emergence and growing power of a new group of immigrant Indians to the United States: the transnational techno-capitalist class of entrepreneurs operating at the upper echelons of the hi-tech industry in Silicon Valley and Bangalore. Imbibing the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, recognizing the importance of building strong networks, and relying upon their educational qualifications, professional credentials and powerful yet invisible family support, Indians are playing a central role in redefining what it means to be an 'immigrant entrepreneur' from a 'developing country'. These powerful actors are negotiating on their own terms and forging their own transnational space in the global software industry to become a transnational capitalist class, with allegiance to global capitalism and a political project of pushing the ideas and ideals of capitalism in both their 'home' and 'adopted' countries. This an important book for those in ethnic and immigrant studies.