Recycled Odyssey: Creating Transnational Families in The Greek Diaspora

In this article I explore the types of transnational families forged by Greek Canadian women through cycles of migration between Canada and Greece. The focus is on how transmigrant women search for a spouse and heterosexual lifestyle embodied within a seemingly ‘authentic’ Greek experience. This recycled odyssey in which the women negotiate systems of gender and ethnic identification between two different social milieux highlights how parental guidance, class tensions and representations of gender and sexuality (re)form the Greek transnational family. These conflicts, and their resolutions, indicate how the ties of transnational families are negotiated to accommodate competing notions of sexuality, femininity, filial piety, parental investment and economic responsibility. Such cases are poorly documented since it is assumed that ‘white’ ethnic groups in North America are more assimilated. However, given the forces that drive transnationalism — such as global capital, cheap travel, telecommunications and European integration — belonging to an imagined community has different implications than it did in the past.     

Pachedu‐Zenzele in the Diaspora: Promoting Sexual Health Amongst Zimbabweans in England

Migrants have been found to be at enhanced risk for the Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) in comparison with settled populations. As they migrate, they often bring with them their traditions and cultural values, which may influence the ways they access or make sense of health promotion interventions in the host country. In the diaspora, should they experience compromised citizenship, marked by an unresolved immigration status, some may need to remain invisible and this may include not accessing or presenting late for vital health care interventions. Addressing the needs of such invisible populations is key to health promotion work and paramount to public health interests. This paper describes how ever‐changing “traditions”, in particular the notions of Pachedu and Zenzele, were harnessed to develop ethically grounded sexual health care interventions amongst Zimbabweans in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. These interventions were delivered in mundane settings that formed some of the key everyday networks of this population. The reinvention of “tradition” for the purposes of delivering health and social care interventions has been one of the cornerstones of health promotion interventions in Africa, where the rates of HIV are some of the highest in the world. The concept of Pachedu harnessed confidentiality in the delivery of sexual health interventions with Zenzele calling for communal involvement in such initiatives. A key point that resulted in the success of this intervention was partnership work between statutory providers and the local Zimbabwean population throughout the project’s life span. Rather than being construed as passive recipients of health and social care interventions, local Zimbabweans and their statutory partners were engaged in mutual capacity building initiatives. Local Zimbabweans were also engaged and consulted throughout, from the conceptualization of the project, delivery, monitoring, and dissemination of the findings.     

Comparing Transnational and Communal Diaspora Philanthropies Among Temporary Migrant Workers: The Case of the Filipino Community in Israel

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Diaspora philanthropy, sending donations to the homeland, has evolved with worldwide migration. While scholars have...     

Diaspora,Community and Communication: Internet Use in Transnational Haiti

Abstract With its capacity to link many people interactively across great distances, the Internet seems to be the ultimate tool for dispersed ethnic groups wishing to sustain identity in an ‘alien’ land and work in solidarity with those facing challenges at ‘home’. Some theorists speak of the creation of diasporic public spheres arising from creative use of Internet technologies. Nevertheless, scholars working in this area rarely embed their analyses within existing work on the public sphere. In the present study I use insights from public sphere theory to evaluate participants' use of a Haiti Global Village forum. After examining Haiti Global Village, I conclude that such forums offer needed space for civic deliberation and provide a valuable infrastructure for networking. Participants' difficulty in translating these assets into an off‐line project, however, highlights the importance of place‐based social ties. Consideration of the experience of other Haitian forums reinforces the importance of such ties.     

Toward a Multisited Ethnography of the Zimbabwean Diaspora in Britain

Classical diaspora scholars have constructed diasporic identities in essentialistic and unitary fashion, with phrases like the “Jewish identity,” “Palestinian identity,” and “Irish identity” denoting migrants as homogeneous ethnic communities. Using the author's multisited ethnographic research among Zimbabweans in Britain, the article explores the diverse ways in which diasporic identities are performed, expressed, and contested in Britain. On the basis of data from a pub, a gochi-gochi (barbecue) and the Zimbabwe Vigil, this article argues that the concept of diaspora, by emphasizing a static and singular conception of group identity, removes the particular ways in which diasporic life is experienced. The ethnographic “sites” were chosen to highlight different geographic settings to show the contrast between multicultural global cities and how different spaces of association attracted distinctive diasporic communities of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and legal status. The article identifies a pattern of diasporic identity development that largely uses the homeland as a frame of reference, and this is contrasted with alternative, hyphenated identities that challenge the fixation of identities to a specific place. It can be suggested that these diasporic identities are bottom-up forms of resistance to the institutionally ascribed refugee identity, perceptions of blocked social mobility, racism, and discrimination in the hostland.     

Religion,Nationalism, and Transnational Civil Society in the Eritrean Diaspora

This article examines the emergence and significance of religion among Eritreans in the United States as a basis for building community in diaspora, reconfiguring nationalist identity, and constituting transnational civil society. It argues three related points: that religious identity and gatherings help mitigate against fractured political identities that have weakened secular diaspora associations; that practicing Eritrean identity through religion challenges the hegemonic power of the Eritrean state to transnationally control diaspora communities and dictate national identity; and that the very incipience of religious bodies as transnational avenues provides Eritreans in diaspora with an autonomous space to resist the state's totalizing demands. Through a critical ethnographic investigation of religious identity and church bodies in Eritrea and one United States diaspora community, the article shows that uneven transnational networks between the United States and Eritrea create new spaces for political action. Specifically, the relative autonomy of churches and the incipience of their transnationalism allow diaspora Eritreans to use religion in the constitution of an emergent transnational civil society.     

Transnational Corruption in Weapons Procurement in East Asia: A Case Analysis

Abstract

This case study analyzes the Lafayette scandal, which alleges that up to US$760 million in bribes and kickbacks was split among French, Chinese, and Taiwanese officials for the 1992 sale of French frigates to Taiwan. The case was unique in its complexity, intrigue, and repercussions. This analysis focuses on the structural and institutional deficiencies in Taiwan and France that intersected to create opportunities for massive corruption. It also traces how Taiwan and France implemented profound preventive reforms in the aftermath of the scandal. This landmark scandal highlights the need for further global efforts to establish legal frameworks and judicial protocols to tackle corrupt practices that transcend national borders.     

Powers and Limits of Transnational Corporations: The Case of ADM

Abstract This analysis employs the case of lysine price fixing involving the food‐processing transnational corporation (TNC) Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Asian‐based firms. In an “economy and society” conceptual framework grounded in the sociology of agriculture and food, we investigate the powers and limits of TNCs in the global era. We argue that TNCs maintain significant powers which allow them to avoid the laws and regulations of nation‐states. ADM was able to organize an illegal global cartel to control the world production and price of the feed supplement lysine. In addition, TNCs' actions in the global arena are limited by their inability to trust business partners and to organize and maintain systems of social control; these roles historically have been played by the nation‐state. We conclude that despite their significant powers, TNCs' contradictory position in the global arena provides opportunities that can be used to democratize society.     

Transnational Normative Struggles and Globalization: The Case of Indigenous Peoples in Bolivia and Ecuador

Since the 1990s, the indigenous rights movement has catapulted from resource-poor, local activists to global activists. The rise of transnational indigenous rights movements has paralleled and interfaced with significant structural developments at the international and state-systemic level, raising questions about the interplay between global and local politics as arenas of social change. To trace these transnational networks to the articulation of norms supportive of indigenous claims, we examine two cases of transnational indigenous activism and domestic responses in the Andean region of South America. We find that the additional dimension of domestic and transnational mobilization that first contests existing international norms, such as neoliberalism and individual rights, and then seeks to diffuse normative changes at both the domestic and international levels provides new insight about norm formation, transformation, and diffusion in international politics in favor of anti-globalization and community equality norms on local, national, and global levels.     

The Indian Diaspora in Africa: The Commodification of Hindu Rashtra

A new approach to India’s diaspora has taken place within the wider context of the adoption, in 1991, of a neoliberal economic policy framework. In recent years, Indian private business enterprises have led the way in Africa and this has had an important impact on the state’s conceptualization of the diaspora. New Delhi’s elites actively seek to embrace an objectified ‘globalization’ as a means to benefit powerful externally oriented fractions and the diaspora’s value is measured in its contribution to this project. There has been a determined attempt to commodify the diaspora to serve particular Indian economic interests. However, the current government’s Hindu chauvinism makes the very question of what constitutes a genuine Indian rather narrow. Two factors thus dominate current policy: commodification and categorization. The diaspora in South Africa is discussed as an example where these dynamics can be acutely observed.     

Transnational Immigrant Narratives on Arab Democracy: The Case of Student Associations at UC Berkeley

This article analyses the discourse of Arab transnational student associations at the University of California in Berkeley (UCB) on Arab democratization. It places focus on their narratives during the 2011 uprisings. Its findings, based on interviews and qualitative data, show that these student associations craft a discursive and broader conception of Arab democracy not confined to suffrage and institutions, and extending beyond the borders of the Arab world. They further draw on various indirect mechanisms in their host land to convey their discourses and impact homeland democratization. Still, their agency remains constrained by several structural factors.     

The Benefits of Frame Resonance Disputes for Transnational Movements: The Case of Botswana's Central Kalahari Game Reserve

Internal rifts over framing and tactics often hinder groups from mobilizing the degree of support and resources necessary to achieve their stated goals. As a result of disparities in political culture and ideology, the existence of such rifts may be especially frequent and disabling for forms of transnational collective action. However, using the case of the transnational movement lobbying on behalf of Botswana's minority groups, particularly the indigenous San, this paper argues that frame resonance disputes can sometimes facilitate the achievement of a movement's immediate goals. This is for two main reasons. First, by appealing to different audiences, the movement can gain complementary and reinforcing forms of legitimacy and support. Second, states and their societies may possess different points of vulnerability, which can be more effectively targeted through the simultaneous use of multiple frames. By helping minority groups receive legal entitlement to their ancestral lands and opening a debate about the nature of Botswana's democracy, the transnational movement campaigning for the return of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve underscores the benefits of frame resonance disputes.     

Faith-Based Organization and Transnational Voluntarism in China: A Case Study of the Malaysia Airline MH370 Incident

This paper examines the relief work of a faith-based organization (FBO)—Tzu-Chi (Buddhist Tzu-Chi Compassion Relief Organization) in China as a response to the Malaysia Airlines MH370 incident. The study first shows that crises facilitate a synergetic relationship of co-production for social services among states, corporate enterprises, and FBOs. FBOs deliver services that states and corporate enterprises cannot easily provide. This case-study shows how a FBO derives strength from its transnational networks, moral teachings, and compliant political attitude toward the government. The findings underscore the lack of discussion on FBOs in the Chinese civil society literature. Furthermore, they contribute to the understanding of how FBOs may benefit state welfare provisions following a 2012 policy shift in which religion was encouraged to participate in social provision.

     

Fractured weber: A critique of parsons' interpetation

The authors argue that Parsons, through commitment to his “convergence thesis” and to his structural-functionalism coupled with his biological evolutionism, misrepresents Weber. Parsons arbitrarily applies to the Weberian tradition his own criteria biased against history. His general theoretical focus inclines toward the tradition of the functionalist Durkheim and that of the evolutionist Spencer. The authors contend that the later metamorphosis of Parsons' general theory of action into a theory of social systems has resulted in an abstract conception of social reality that is incongrous with Weber's view. The source of the Parsonian bias is further traced in his psychologization of Weber. Finally, it is asserted that Parsons represents a case of a-historicism incompatible with the Weberian tradition, with the consequence that the important contributions of Weber's historical sociology for the understanding of social change in the modern world are lost.