Drawing upon Anthony Giddens´s structuration theory, this book examines the migratory links between Hadhramaut, a small area in contemporary Yemen, and the wider Indian Ocean rim, thereby covering both the golden age of colonialism and the decolonization years. While the Hadhrami diaspora in the Indian Ocean region is not as well-known as its Chinese and Indian counterparts it provides a good example of how structurally different types of society interacted with each other. Taking the narrative to regions as different as the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian Subcontinent, Maritime Southeast Asia and East Africa, the author argues that the dynamics of the Hadhrami diaspora can be interpreted in terms of an earlier phase of globalizatiion.