Navigating Evolving Professional Identities: Female Keralite Ayurveda Therapists and their Negotiations of Migration Infrastructure to Malaysia

This thesis investigates how female labour migrants navigate evolving professional identities amidst changing health and wellness landscapes. The dynamic nature of the labour mediation process and the strategies of female Ayurveda therapists from Kerala, India, in negotiating migration infrastructure to Malaysia provide insights into their experiences. The multi-level agendas shaping these changes and the ways in which these women respond to them highlight the strategic infrastructuring undertaken by both institutional actors and labour migrants. The findings of this thesis can be extended to examine global labour mobility across other sectors in a changing world to achieve more equitable outcomes.