Critical junctures and transformative events in diaspora mobilisation for Kosovo and Palestinian statehood

ABSTRACT

Scholarship on conflict-generated diasporas has identified the need to consider diaspora mobilisations in multiple contexts and how they are affected by local and global processes. I argue that diasporas react with mobilisations to global events that take place not only in host-states and home-states but also in other locations to which diasporas are transnationally linked. I illustrate the theoretical concepts with empirical discussion about global diaspora activism for Kosovo and Palestinian statehood. Two categories of global events, critical junctures, and transformative events, can be distinguished, with effects on diaspora mobilisation depending on the sociospatial context in which diasporas are embedded. Critical junctures can transform international and state structures and institutions, and change the position of a strategic centre from ‘outside’ to ‘inside’ a homeland territory and vice versa. Transformative events are less powerful and can change diaspora mobilisation trajectories. In contexts where diasporas have relatively strong positionality vis-à-vis other actors in a transnational social field, diaspora mobilisation is more likely to be sustained in response to critical junctures and transformative events.     

The Korean diaspora and belonging in the UK: identity tensions between North and South Koreans

Previous studies of North Korean migrants and refugees in the UK have focused on labour issues, inter-Korean diaspora issues and how inter-Korean peninsula geopolitics affects North Korean integration in a third country such as the UK. This paper explains the role of identity formation in processes of belonging and integration for the North Korean group. This group is significant in the sense that the group shares strong beliefs in a unified Korean ethnicity with the South Korean diaspora, and yet comes from a specific Korean state that is territorially divided from the majority of Korean migrants who emigrate from South Korea. This tension creates a number of alternative scenarios regarding expectations of the relationship between national identity, diaspora politics and processes of belonging in a host nation.     

The microfoundations of diaspora politics: unpacking the state and disaggregating the diaspora

ABSTRACT

Recognising the need to unpack ?the ‘state’ and? ?problematise? the term? ‘diaspora’, in this special issue we examine the various actors within (and beyond) the state that participate in the design and implementation of diaspora policies, as well as the mechanisms through which ???diasporas?? are constructed by governments, political parties, diaspora entrepreneurs, or international organisations?. Ex??tant theories are often hard-pressed to capture the empirical variation and often end up identifying ‘exceptions’. We?? theorise these ‘exceptions’ through three interrelated? conceptual moves: First, ??we focus on? ??underst?udie?d? aspects of the relationships between states as well as organised non-state actors and their citizens or co-ethnics? abroad (??or at home – in cases of return migration).? Second, ??we? ??examine dyads of ?origin states and specific diasporic communities differentiated by time of emigration, place of residence, socio-economic status, migratory status, generation, or skills. T?hird??,? ?we ?consider? migration in its multiple spatial and temporal phases (emigration, immigration, transit, return??)? and ?how the???y?? inter?sect to?? constitute diasporic identities?? and policies. ??These? conceptual moves contribute to comparative research in the field and allow us to identify the mechanisms? connect?ing structural variable??s with ? specific policies by states ?(and other actors?) as well as responses? by the relevant ?diasporic ?communi?ties??.     

Scottish devolution and the Scottish diaspora

This paper describes the relationship that exists between Scotland and its diaspora and the ways in which this has changed since the advent of devolution. Based on interviews carried out primarily in the United States, it explores how members of the diaspora have adopted a less historical and sentimental approach to their ‘homeland’ and are increasingly knowledgeable about Scottish constitutional change. In part this has resulted from the growth of the internet and the ease of finding out about developments in Scotland itself, as well as the greater ease and affordability of travel back to Scotland. But, most importantly, the existence of a government in Edinburgh has allowed Scottish politicians and organizations to engage with the diaspora in events such as Tartan Day, in a way in which London-based politicians were never likely to do. Tourist developments promoted by the Scottish government, such as the Year of Homecoming in 2009, have also been highly significant. Thus links between Scotland and its diaspora have been changed and strengthened in various ways.     

Unbecoming blackness: the diaspora cultures of Afro-Cuban America

This paper addresses the relationship between ageing, gender, cultural norms, and the constitution of gendered body-subjects. It briefly discusses three conceptual approaches which have been used to understand ageing, gendered body-subjects: postmodernist/social constructionist, psychoanalytic, and poststructuralist feminist. It is argued that the first two approaches are entrenched in dualistic modes of thinking, and therefore can never construct ageing gendered body subjects as other than through the dualistic discourse of decline and cultural devaluation in Western consumer cultures. The third, however, appears to hold some promise for a more just and flexible way of accounting for the integrity of, and culturally valuing, the gendered body-subject in old age. Examples from writings on dance are used to illustrate this argument.     

New ethnicities and old classities: respectability and diaspora

This article explores the contrasts between the flexibility and openness of interethnic and diasporic identifications and the fixity of class distinctions in contemporary Britain. The author draws on fieldwork conducted in the Midlands area and a suburban town in the south east of England and traces the ways in which project participants mobilised their biographies and ancestries to express feelings of empathy and relatedness across black, white and Asian identities. The author discovered the same people articulated a strong sense of classed distinction between themselves and others who were thought to lack respectability, social ambition and mobility. These observations have led me to reflect upon the theoretical contrasts between what Stuart Hall has famously called ‘new ethnicities’ and what the author calls ‘old classities’.     

僧泰冲突与“猛虎”组织

文章认为 ,僧泰冲突是斯里兰卡建国初大僧伽罗主义和从事民族分裂活动、恐怖活动的“猛虎”组织双方发挥消极作用的产物 ;僧泰双方签订永久和平协定和“猛虎”组织从公认的恐怖主义组织到斯政府承认其为合法性组织 ,既是僧泰双方势均力敌的结果 ,也是斯政府军在加大打击力度的同时准备实施自治政策、国际反恐潮流和印度政府把“猛虎”组织视为恐怖主义组织而不再支持等因素合力的结果 ;采取某种特殊的联邦制是斯政府解决僧泰冲突的一种有效途径。     

The Coptic diaspora and the status of the Coptic minority in Egypt

This paper examines the political activity of the Coptic diaspora in the United States in support of the Coptic minority in Egypt. Analysing its strategy reveals that for years it has focused on lobbying the United States and international bodies, in order to raise international awareness of the Coptic minority status. By using this strategy, it has framed the struggle for Copts’ rights in a manner that contradicts the Egyptian unity narrative, and the strategic choices of those they are struggling for. This paper shows that understanding the limitations of this strategy alongside a change in the structure of opportunities in Egypt has led to a change in the pattern of activity of the diaspora activists. Alongside lobbying for international involvement, they have developed additional strategies, including strengthening their influence in the homeland and even direct action vis-à-vis the Egyptian authorities. This paper, which emphasises the pattern of action of diaspora activists that represent minorities, directs attention to the structure of opportunities in the homeland, the variety of relationships between the diaspora and the homeland, and their effect on the ability of the diaspora activists to become a significant force in shaping the life of the minority.     

Im/mobile subjects: identity,conflict and emotion work among East Timorese Meto diaspora

ABSTRACT

Changes in situations of mobility as a result of violent conflict and displacement pose major challenges to the maintenance, mobilisation and restoration of family ties across national boundaries. Sustaining these relationships through which personal and group identities are embedded and resources for survival are provided can be emotionally and materially taxing while living in exile. This is particularly so when poor relations are perpetuated as a result of unattended and deeply rooted conflict. This paper illustrates the ways legacy of mistrust manifest in diaspora persons’ im/mobility in relation to their moral community ‘back home’. It considers the case of East Timorese Meto diasporic families against the background of widespread impunity that featured the end of the Indonesian state’s occupation of Timor-Leste, which resulted in serious disruptions of cultural and kinship ties. It starts by discussing their mobility context to elucidate the emerging narratives and strategies people employed to negotiate issues of identity and belonging. In particular, the paper reveals the emotion work of translocal mobility through the flows of material, circulating words of good deeds and physical presence, aimed at the repair and strengthening of relationships after dividing conflict.     

Confucius institute teachers in the UK: motivation,challenges, and transformative learning

Academic mobility has attracted much attention in recent educational research. Previous studies focus mainly on study abroad students; relatively little attention, however, has been paid to the growing numbers of teachers of Chinese as a second language working abroad in Confucius Institutes, non-profit public institutions that aim to promote Chinese language and culture, currently operating in some 500 Confucius Institutes and 1000 Confucius classrooms (local hubs in schools) in 134 countries. This paper explores the intercultural experience of a cohort of Confucius Institute Chinese Teachers working in the UK. Drawing on focus group discussions and interviews, it examines the factors associated with their motivation and the adjustments they make professionally and personally and the transformational power of intercultural experiences on teacher development. Finally, it offers suggestions for possible improvements in future international exchange programs.     

Identity after Kosovo's independence: narratives from within the Kosovar Albanian diaspora

The nature of national identity after the establishment of Kosovo as an independent state was explored within a small group of Kosovar Albanians living in the UK. Although Kosovan identity was expressed at times in hybrid form, e.g. British Kosovan, identity at a deeper structural level was founded upon historical origins and culture inexorably linked to Albania and people of Illyrian descent and their territories. This was particularly the case in the discursive context of perceived threats to identity. Despite significant political developments providing the psychological space for an independent national identity, within this small group at least, identity was still strongly affiliated to, or assimilated within, an Albanian identity.     

Diaspora as aesthetic formation: community sports events and the making of a Somali diaspora

This paper uses the concept of aesthetic formation to examine the practices through which diasporic imaginations become tangible and experienced as ‘real’. The authors interpret sport as an embodied aesthetic practice through which diasporas materialise, with important implications for identification and belonging. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork on a transnational community-based sports event, the Amsterdam Futsal Tournament, the paper discusses how articulations of Somali diasporism become tangible and embodied in subjects who participate in this event. The authors conclude that these materialisation practices can simultaneously elicit multiple forms and levels of belonging that also foster a sense of integration and belonging to the nation.     

Diaspora mobilisation for conflict and post-conflict reconstruction: contextual and comparative dimensions

ABSTRACT

This special issue seeks to move the scholarly conversation beyond notions of conflict-generated diasporas as simply agents of conflict or peace. The field is ripe to unpack the notion of context for diaspora mobilisation in International Relations, the focus and novelty of this special issue. Theorising in this volume goes beyond current prevalent thinking that contexts are host-states in which diasporas live, and original home-states to which they are transnationally connected. The emphasis here is that diasporas have linkages to different contexts, and that their embeddedness in these contexts – simultaneously or sequentially in time – either shapes their mobilizations or is shaped by them. The volume theorises about spatialities and temporalities of diaspora engagement: it emphasises spatial notions such as multi-sited embeddedness, positionality, and translocalism on the one side, and temporal notions such as critical junctures, transformative events, simultaneity, crises, and durability of conflicts on the other. This collection further adds new thematic areas to current scholarly inquiry, opening the discussion beyond interest in diaspora remittances, economic development, and extraterritorial voting. The authors take little-explored paths to examine diasporas as agents in transitional justice processes, contested sovereignty, and fragile and de facto states, as well as in civic and ethnic-based activism.     

Bifurcated homeland and diaspora politics in China and Taiwan towards the Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT

The conventional literature on diaspora politics tends to focus on one ‘homeland’ state and its relations with ‘sojourning’ diaspora around the world. This paper examines an instance of ‘bifurcated homeland:’ the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) since 1949. The paper investigates the changing dynamics of China's and Taiwan's diaspora policies towards Overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia throughout the Cold War and post-Cold War periods. They were affected by their ideological competition, the rise of Chinese nationalism, and the ‘indigenisation’ of Taiwanese identity. Illustrating such changes through the case of the KMT Yunnanese communities in Northern Thailand, this paper makes two interrelated arguments. First, we should understand relations through the lens of interactive dynamics between international system-level changes and domestic political transformations. Depending on different normative underpinnings of the international system, the foundations of regime legitimacy have changed. Subsequently, the nature of relations between the diaspora and the homeland(s) transformed from one that emphasises ideological differences during the Cold War, to one infused with nationalist authenticity in the post-Cold War period. Second, the bifurcated nature of the two homelands also created mutual influences on their diaspora policies during periods of intense competition.     

Mobilising towards and imagining homelands: diaspora formation among U.K. Sudanese

This paper examines diasporic identity formation among Sudanese migrants in the U.K. From constructivist perspectives, diasporas form when mobilisations towards a ‘homeland’ initiate processes of collectively imagining that homeland. These mobilising agendas have been analysed as either emotional and/or political and correspond to processes of collective remembering, forgetting or future-making. Drawing on interviews with, and observations of, Sudan-born residents of the U.K., this paper examines diaspora formation among U.K. Sudanese. It asks what mobilising agendas unite U.K. Sudanese and what kinds of imaginative processes orient them towards their shared homeland(s). This investigation uncovers how multiple and seemingly contradictory processes of diasporic identity formation overlap within the same ‘national’ migrant community. It analyses how different mobilising agendas initiate imaginative processes of ‘past-making’ and ‘future-making’ which correspond to various types of diasporic identity. In doing so, this paper contributes to debates within constructivist approaches to diaspora formation.     

Deconstructing diasporic mobilisation at a time of crisis: perspectives from the Palestinian and Greek diasporas

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the difficulties that diasporas face in relation to mobilising around helping the homeland at a time of crisis, using qualitative research on the Greek and Palestinian diasporas. Rather than assume that long-distance nationalism, emotional attachment to the homeland and diasporic obligation will galvanise diasporic populations into assisting, and mobilising around, the homeland, the paper argues that those in diasporas do not necessarily help their homelands in times of crisis, even if they have strong socio-cultural connections to it. At times of crisis these feelings are heightened but not do not always translate into direct action; this may especially be the case at times of prolonged crisis when past efforts to help do not seem to have worked. This paper argues that it is often hard for those in diaspora to find meaningful ways to help at a time of crisis and many question the effectiveness of their actions if they do not see positive outcomes over time. The paper demonstrates that trying to help the homeland can therefore be a frustrating process and can make those in diaspora feel distanced and isolated from the homeland due to their inability to find concrete ways to help.     

Alike but different: the understanding of rituals among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus in Denmark

ABSTRACT

This article will discuss the meaning(s) of rituals among Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus in Denmark with special focus on the second generation. It will use Roy A. Rappaport's theory on ritual both as communication and as a basic social act, but it will also, in line with Jan Assmann and Hervieu Legér, understand the ritual as a storing place of collective memory. It will give a short outline of what can be called the institutionalisation but also the placemaking of the Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu tradition in Denmark, but the empirical focus will be on the chariot procession (Tēr), which attracts thousands of participants every year. The Tēr procession is an example of continuity and change. Continuity because the participants try to reproduce the ritual as they know it from Sri Lanka, however, changed so it fits into or communicates with the new setting.     

多元文化城市缩影:加拿大多伦多

前　言多伦多及其周边地区 (多伦多大都市 )有 463万居民。根据世界标准 ,多伦多就其人口来说是一个相对小的城市 ,但是 ,它是加拿大最大的城市 ,也是民族最多样化的城市。加拿大的地域辽阔 ,人口只有 3 0 0 0万左右。因此 ,加拿大积极接纳来自世界各地的移民 ,它的政策规定每年可接纳 2 0万— 3 0万移民。每年几乎有一半的移民选择多伦多作为他们的居住地 ,导致1 990年以后到加拿大的新移民有 43 %住在多伦多。相比之下 ,只有 1 8%住在温哥华 ,1 3 %住在蒙特利尔 ,4%住在渥太华 ,而仅有 3 %住在卡尔加里 (1 996年加拿大人口普查资料 )。根…