‘The Realm of Maiden Beauty’: Spectres of Slavery,Rebellion, and Creolisation in the Landscape of Cable’s Louisiana

Using a creative interdisciplinary method of enquiry, this article seeks to exorcise the spectres of revolutionary creolisation embedded in George Washington Cable’s 1880 novel The Grandissimes. It probes, in particular, the secreted traces of the Creole diaspora triggered by the Haitian Revolution of 1791–1804, and attempts to peel back the manifold layers of ideological occlusion embedded in the (ostensibly white, Anglo-American) narrative frame of Cable’s omniscient narrator and his protagonist Joseph Frowenfeld, which suppress the connections between inter-American identities across diverse, revolutionary, creolistic worlds in Louisiana and the Gulf South. Unlike other studies examining traces of the Haitian Revolution in The Grandissimes, which tend to focus on the parallels between fictional and historical figures in Cable’s southern romance, this article dissects the subtle allusions to the revolution and the attendant diaspora found in the plantation infrastructures and the urban landscape of Cable’s Louisiana. In so doing, it demonstrates how Saint-Domingan migrants affirmed and reinvigorated the cultural landscape of the ‘Creole’ South and ‘circumvented’ the ideological spread of ‘Americanness’ at the time of the Louisiana Purchase, and during successive moments thereafter.     

Regrounding Youth Cultural Theory (in Post‐Socialist Youth Cultural Practice)

This article considers how the study of youth cultural practice in Eastern Europe informs theoretical and empirical debate about youth culture. It charts the trajectory of academic writing on East European youth cultures and suggests the region’s state socialist past (which made social inequalities relatively insignificant at a time when, elsewhere, youth cultural studies were dominated by class‐based readings) combined with the explosion of inequality in the post‐socialist period (by which time class‐resistant post‐subcultural theories led anglophone academic discussion), makes it an interesting vantage point from which to reconsider academic paradigms. Drawing on empirical examples of youth cultural practice in (post)‐socialist Eastern Europe, it argues for a perspective that integrates structural and cultural factors shaping young people’s lives. It suggests moving forward western theoretical debates – often stymied in arguments over nomenclature (‘subculture’, ‘postsubculture’, ‘neo‐tribe’) – by shifting the focus of study from ‘form’ (‘subculture’ etc.) to ‘substance’ (concrete cultural practices) and attending to everyday communicative, musical, sporting, educational, informal economy, and territorial practices. Since such practices are embedded in the ‘whole’ rather than ‘subcultural’ lives of young people, this renders visible how cultural practices are enabled and constrained by the same social divisions and inequalities that structure society at large.     

Diaspora-Homeland Relations as a Framework to Examine Nation-Building Processes

This article examines diasporization practices – practices through which homeland and diaspora communities engage each other – as a prism through which to explore the process of nation-building and the formation of national belonging. Instead of treating ‘nation’ or ‘diaspora’ as bounded entities, it explores the various ways through which members of diaspora communities negotiate their position vis-à-vis national homeland movements on the one hand and host societies on the other. Specifically, it examines practices of fundraising, diasporic lobbying, the extension of citizenship to members of diaspora communities, and the consumption of images through communication technologies. Through these ongoing, negotiated encounters, ‘homeland’ as well as ‘diaspora’ are produced. Close examination of these practices may offer fresh insights regarding the process of nation-building in the diaspora that has a heuristic value beyond this particular setting.     

Feeding the Ties to “Home”: Diaspora Policies for the Next Generations

How do countries of origin deal with their post‐migrant generations, the emigrants' descendants who are born and raised abroad? In this article we examine the diaspora policies of Morocco, a country that relies heavily on its expatriate communities and that is confronted with growing post‐migrant generations. Theoretically, the article draws on the literature on diaspora policies and migrant transnationalism and connects the two. An in‐depth examination of the annual Summer Universities for young Moroccans Living Abroad, one of the flagships of the current Moroccan diaspora policy, demonstrates that diaspora policy programmes are vehicles to convey targeted messages to the post‐migrant generations concerning their transnational ties.     

From Limited to Active Engagement: Mexico’s Emigration Policies from a Foreign Policy Perspective (2000–2006)

Mexico’s emigration policies – including the state’s engagement with the diaspora, the discourse in relation to emigrants, the responses to U.S. migration policies and legislation, and the priority given to the issue in the national and bilateral agendas – have undergone a process of transformation since the late 1980s and particularly after 2000. From a history of generally limited engagement in terms of responding to U.S. policies and a traditional interpretation of consular protection activities, Mexico has gradually developed more active policies in relation to the diaspora and began a process of redefining its position on emigration. In addition to the processes of political change in Mexico and the growing impact of migrants’ transnational activities, changes in Mexico’s emigration policies are also a result of transformations in foreign policy principles and strategies, mainly as a result of the evolution of U.S.‐Mexico relations since the late 1980s and particularly since NAFTA. These findings demonstrate the significance of international factors – namely host state – sending state relations and foreign policy interests, discourse, and traditions – in the design and implementation of migration policies and the need to develop multi‐level analyses to explain states’ objectives, interests, and capacities in the management of migration.     

Diaspora and development? Nigerian organizations in London and the transnational politics of belonging

Through a particular focus on the politics of belonging, I explore in this article the extent to which London‐based Nigerian organizations perform the progressive role expected of them in globalizing discourses of diaspora and development. The interplay between national and sub‐national, geo‐ethnic visions of belonging and development has fundamental implications for viability of the Nigerian state. In the ways they mobilize identity ‘abroad’ and make transnational interventions at ‘home’, London‐based Nigerian diaspora organizations can reproduce a pervasive and insidiously divisive politics of belonging that is widely seen to undermine the Nigerian project. However, these organizations and their transnational interventions can also transcend the ethnicized boundaries of belonging to articulate and pursue visions of Nigeria's national development. While they are involved in the politics of belonging and the progress of ‘home’ in ways that are clearly much more ambivalent than globalizing discourses of diaspora and development might hope, their potential for contributing to a unified and prosperous Nigeria should not be dismissed.     

‘Entering the territory of incitement’: oppositionality and Africa South

Africa South was an anti‐apartheid journal edited by Ronald Segal which was published in South Africa in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This article explores the historical and political significance of Africa South and considers its implications for an understanding of ‘oppositionality’ in the post‐apartheid present. The central challenge which Africa South offered to its own context was its transnational perspective. Africa South was an important meeting place in the global routes of the developing pan‐African movement. It is also noteworthy for its effort to bring disparate areas of history and experience – both within the African continent and across the African diaspora – into revealing alignment with one another. The principle of conjuncture, I argue, initiated an important analytical move: the opportunity for illuminating comparison, the re‐conceptualisation of an often fragmented political and social landscape and an unusual glimpse of the whole. In tension with this totalising vision is the journal’s generic eclecticism, its flexible political identity and its collaborative construction. In both its unity and its fragmentation, Africa South offers an important point of departure for activist journalism and oppositional intellectual endeavours in the present.     

Diaspora and Development? London‐based Nigerian Organisations and the Transnational Politics of Socio‐economic Status and Gender

Diaspora organisations are increasingly being lauded as important actors in the development of their communities and countries of origin. Focusing on London‐based Nigerian organisations and their interventions in Nigeria, this article assesses the particular claims that diaspora organisations reach, benefit and ‘empower’ women and ‘the poor’ at ‘home’. It argues that, while many London‐based Nigerian organisations do connect with and support these groups, they often do so in ways that reinforce rather than transform established gender relations and socio‐economic inequalities. If international agencies are to support the progressive potential of the organised diaspora, it will be necessary to acknowledge the alternative and socially mediated ways in which development might be imagined and enacted both in diaspora and at ‘home’.     

A Fractured Transnational Diaspora: The Case of Zimbabweans in Britain

Millions of Zimbabweans living abroad have been described as an emerging diaspora. However, there has been little attempt to question their designation as a diaspora, or indeed, to engage with the more theoretically informed and conceptually rich literature on diaspora. The assumption in this categorisation relies heavily upon popular usage of the term diaspora among Zimbabweans themselves both abroad and in the homeland. However, instead of suppressing discussion by simply pronouncing them “a diaspora”, it is important to examine whether or not they constitute a diaspora. Drawing on the concepts of diaspora and transnationalism and on the author’s multi‐sited ethnographic research in the United Kingdom (hereafter, “Britain”), the article examines how the diaspora was dispersed, how it is constituted in the hostland and how it maintains connections with the homeland. What factors influenced people’s decisions to migrate into the diaspora and how can these phases be classified? What types of migration patterns characterise Zimbabweans’ migration to Britain? The study explores the origin, formation and articulation of the Zimbabwean diaspora in Britain, providing a conceptual and theoretical interpretation of the social formation vis‐à‐vis other accounts of global diasporas. The findings of this study suggest that Zimbabweans abroad are a fractured transnational diaspora. The scattering of Zimbabweans evinces some of the features commonly ascribed to a diaspora such as involuntary and voluntary dispersion of the population from the homeland; settlement in foreign territories and uneasy relationship with the hostland; strong attachment and connection to the original homeland; and the maintenance of diverse diasporic identities. The study represents a contribution to our knowledge of the Zimbabwean diaspora in particular and to the field of diaspora and transnational studies in general.     

New trade formations: precarity,pragmatic cosmopolitanism and long‐distance trade in the Caucasus

For many ordinary people responding to ongoing post‐Soviet precarity, domestic and transnational trade has become a common choice of livelihood. This article is about the small and medium sized traders who deal in cheap Chinese commodities in the Caucasus –particularly in Georgia and Armenia. It introduces the notion of ‘trade formations’ to account for the multiple ways in which cross‐cultural trade and microfinance practices, as well as stereotypes about national and regional groups and trading minorities, highlight the role of trust, reputation and everyday diplomacy in long‐distance commercial networks. While current trade networks are rooted in the cultures of trade practised under the Soviets, dispositions of pragmatic cosmopolitanism and defensive nationalism often determine who may or may not respond to post‐Soviet precarity by turning to transnational trade, embracing political and religious diversity, and overlooking hostilities, past and present.     

Beyond Family Remittances: Assessing the Prospects of Alternative Approaches to “Remittances for Development” in Africa

This article examines the remittance patterns of Cameroonians residing in Aarhus, Denmark and discusses the findings in relation to those from earlier studies on migrants’ remittances. Based on analyses of the inclination of these Cameroonians to support development projects in Cameroon, it is argued that a strengthened partnership between local non‐state actors in Cameroon and the Cameroonian diaspora will significantly improve the role remittances can play in the country’s development. The article also highlights the framework, benefits and challenges of such potential partnership and suggests ways in which remittances from the Cameroonian diaspora in particular and African migrants in general, could be effectively channelled beyond migrants’ families to further the continent’s development drive.     

Trans‐Local Communities in the Age of Transnationalism: Bosnians in Diaspora

Today, Bosnians represent one of the newly emerging and the most widely dispersed diasporic communities from the Balkans. There are large communities of Bosnians living in almost every European country, as well as throughout North America and Australia. Most were displaced during the 1992–1995 Bosnian war, in which 2.2 million people were forced to leave their homes, 1.6 million of whom looked for refuge abroad. In contrast with, and in response to, the enforced displacement, many members of the Bosnian diaspora have retained strong family and other “informal” social ties with both Bosnians in other countries and those still living in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH, or Bosnia). Such ties – focused on preservation of cultural memory and performance of distinct local identities – form the basis of the global network of the Bosnian diaspora and its link with the original home (land). In this paper, I briefly outline the links and networks that constitute diaspora, and then go on to explore the extent to which recent scholarly literature is able to “capture” the uniqueness and complexity of the Bosnian diasporic communities in Australia, the United States (U.S.) and Europe. Finally, I attempt to define the concept of “trans‐localism” and how it is (per)formed, and suggest that the predominantly “transnational” conceptual framework within the migration studies needs to be expanded to include “trans‐local” diasporic identity formation among displaced Bosnians and similar diaspora groups.     

Corporate social responsibility and conflicts of interest in the alcohol and gambling industries: a post‐political discourse?

The corporate pursuit of social goals – known as Corporate Social Responsibility or ‘CSR’ – has been subject to critique on a number of grounds. However, a hitherto underexplored potential consequence of CSR has been suggested in a recent paper by C. Garsten and K. Jacobsson (‘Post‐Political Regulation: Soft Power and Post‐political Visions in Global Governance’ (2013), Critical Sociology 39: 421–37). They suggest that CSR is part of an international trend towards ‘post‐political’ governance discourses, where an emphasis on different actors’ common goals obscures conflicts of interest, subverting the open political conflict necessary for a well‐functioning democracy. This paper examines whether such post‐political discourses – including an outright denial of conflict of interest – can be found within the alcohol and gambling industries, where conflicts of interest are likely to be particularly acute given the addictive nature of the goods/services in question. Based on interviews with CSR professionals in these industries in Italy, the UK, and at EU‐level, we do indeed find evidence of a post‐political discourse. In these discourses, alcohol/gambling industry staff deny potential conflicts of interest on the basis that any small benefits from sales to a small number of addicts are seen to be outweighed by the reputational damage that addicts cause. Crucially, however, this coexists with another, less post‐political discourse, where addictions CSR professionals emphasize ‘common ground’ as a basis for CSR, while accepting some instances of possible conflict of interest. Here interviewees make considerable efforts to differentiate good (sustainable) from bad (short‐term) self‐interest in order to stress the genuineness of their own actions. We conclude the paper by considering whether CSR embedded within a ‘common ground’ discourse still hides conflicts of interests and subverts democratic debate, or overcomes the problems identified by Garsten and Jacobsson.     

Knowledge Transfer and Capacity Building Through the Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals to Afghanistan

Increasing research has illustrated the positive effects of the diaspora on the country of origin. The majority of this research, however, has focused on the effects of diaspora remittances and investments. This article examines the effects of the diaspora on knowledge transfer and capacity building in a post‐conflict environment. The article is based on a case study of the International Organization for Migration the Netherlands, Temporary Return of Qualified Nationals to Afghanistan project, in which 59 highly skilled Dutch‐Afghans returned to work with a host institution (public or private) in Afghanistan for three months to transfer knowledge and build capacity. In‐depth interviews were conducted with project participants, host institutions, participants' colleagues, and key informants to gather an understanding of how participants contributed. The article finds that diaspora temporary returnees were most effective in forms of tacit knowledge transfer and that the knowledge transfer process effectively led to capacity building in Afghanistan.     

The Americas’ Multi‐Polar Displacements as A New Pattern in Haitian‐French Guyanese Migrations

Migration shifts over time. The attractive immigration policy of French Guyana, which allowed Haitians to migrate in the early 1970s, was changed into a repulsive one in the mid‐1980s. This dramatic change modifies migrants’ linear trajectories from the Haitian departure point to the French Guyanese arrival. Many immigrants or would‐be immigrants use multi‐polar and scattered movements. They link origin, third and host countries in the Americas as a system of displacements where migrating becomes an inter‐American journey. On their way out to French Guyana, Haitian emigrants, before being immigrants are already migranrts. Multi‐polar displacements through multi‐polarized migration streams pass through the physical and cognitive borders of neighbouring states. Consequently, this new development in trajectories of Haitian migrations systemically connects de facto French Guyana to other migration poles in the American space and sets forth a theoretical and methodological consequentialness.     

Communal Decline: The Vanishing of High-Moral Servant Leaders and the Decay of Democratic, High-Trust Kibbutz Cultures

What is the connection between leaders’morality and the output performance of organizations? Can their morality explain, through trust, continuity, and change of organizational cultures? Is periodic rotation of managers the right solution for the distrust caused by self‐serving conservatism due to Michels's “Iron Law of Oligarchy”? An anthropological study of kibbutzim, whose innovative and adaptive cultures declined recently, found that past success was dependent on high‐moral servant leaders who backed democracy and promoted high‐trust cultures that engendered innovation by creative officers in some kibbutzim, which others imitated. However, conservatism of continuous leaders as heads of low‐trust kibbutz federative organizations, which were ignored by customary kibbutz research, engendered oligarchization which rotation enhanced rather than prevented. However, creativity deteriorated only after decades of growing oligarchy, with the vanishing of the high‐moral old guard. Thus, the crux of democratic communal culture sustainability is pinpointed in the superiority of trusted, high‐moral leaders. A preliminary idea for achieving that aim, predicated on officers’continuation in office being conditional on periodic tests of trust, is herein presented.     

Trust and technology: the social foundations of aviation regulation

This paper looks at the dilemmas posed by ‘expertise’ in high‐technology regulation by examining the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ‘type‐certification’ process, through which they evaluate new designs of civil aircraft. It observes that the FAA delegate a large amount of this work to the manufacturers themselves, and discusses why they do this by invoking arguments from the sociology of science and technology. It suggests that – contrary to popular portrayal – regulators of high technologies face an inevitable epistemic barrier when making technological assessments, which forces them to delegate technical questions to people with more tacit knowledge, and hence to ‘regulate’ at a distance by evaluating ‘trust’ rather than ‘technology’. It then unravels some of the implications of this and its relation to our theories of regulation and ‘regulatory capture’.     

Distant warriors,distant peace workers? Multiple diaspora roles in Sri Lanka's violent conflict

This article provides a critical, empirically based analysis of the multiple ways in which diaspora communities participate in transnational politics related to their war‐affected former home countries. The case of Sri Lanka — and the Tamil and Sinhalese diasporas in the West — is used to illustrate how contemporary armed conflicts are increasingly waged in an international arena. Active diaspora groups have enabled an extension of nationalist mobilization, hostilities and polarization across the globe. Diaspora actors take part in propaganda work and fundraising in support of the belligerent parties in Sri Lanka, while the polarization between Sinhalese and Tamils is to a large extent replicated in the diaspora. However, there are also examples of diaspora groups that challenge war and militarism, for instance by calling for non‐violent conflict resolution, condemning atrocities by both sides, and engaging in cross‐ethnic dialogue. The article also argues that diaspora engagement in reconstruction of war‐torn areas can be a double‐edged sword, as it can reproduce — or reduce — grievances and inequalities that fuel the conflict. By discussing the many ways in which diasporas engage in homeland politics, the article challenges simplified understandings of diasporas as either‘warriors’or‘peace workers’ in relation to their homeland conflicts.     

Virtualizing diaspora: new digital technologies in the emerging transnational space

Since new distributed ledger technologies hold out a promise to restructure cross‐border flows of people and material resources, they affect globalization and alter transnational spaces. Their capacity to facilitate secure and disintermediated value transfer through crypto‐code and smart contracts enables novel forms of remittance transfer, resource management and digital identity verification – and may also generate new vulnerabilities. In this article, we examine the use of emerging blockchain applications in various migration and diaspora related initiatives in the emerging economies of Africa, Asia and Europe. By building on existing social networks of mutual obligation and quasi‐ethnic affinities, blockchain technologies may facilitate the ability to enlarge the scope of diasporas and change the nature of belonging, sovereignty, migration and statehood. Through exploring the selective foregrounding of mutuality and materiality in such alternative value transfer systems, we seek to explain the dynamics of trust and agency that these networks generate to extend commitments and loyalties in the transnational space.