Post‐colonial Pakistani Mobilities: the Embodiment of the ‘Myth of Return’ in Tourism

This paper examines post‐migration mobilities of a Pakistani diaspora (Luton, UK) by identifying the embodiment of the ‘myth of return’ in tourism participation to the homeland, Pakistan. The interpretive ethnographic accounts re‐consider the ‘myth of return’ concerning the emigration and immigration nexus. The continuation of traditions such as duties and obligations transmitted through the myth in tourism are analysed. The paper argues that the ‘myth’ is imperative to understanding the meanings the Pakistani community attaches to tourism motivations. The conclusion argues that the ties between post‐colonial diasporas and the homelands can be explained through post‐migration tourism mobilities.     

GLOBALIZATION AND TRINIDAD CARNIVAL: DIASPORA,HYBRIDITY AND IDENTITY IN GLOBAL CULTURE

This article is premised on the view that culturally, the periphery is greatly influenced by the society of the centre, but the reverse is also the case. This is a case study of the impact and implications for global culture of periphery-to-centre cultural flows. It is argued that the Trinidad carnival and the overseas Caribbean carnivals (e.g. Notting Hill, London; Caribana, Toronto; Labour Day, New York) are products of and responses to the processes of globalization as wellas transcultural and transnational formations. Carnival is theorized as a hybrid site for the ritual negotiation of cultural identity and practice by the Caribbean diaspora.     

行进中的家园书写——加勒比流散文学的变迁研究

家园书写是流散文学创作亘古不变的主题。作为最早的世界性移民地区之一,加勒比是多种不同的种族、语言、宗教和文化传统杂交和融合的十字路口,因此,其文学中的家园书写在全球化流散背景下极具前瞻性意义。加勒比文学中的家园书写形成过程经历了较长历史时期的变迁,时间跨度约四百年,前后主要经历了三个阶段,即以真实的家园再现为特点的殖民书写、以真实与想象混杂中的家园镜像为特点的后殖民书写和以想象中的家园梦想为特点的流散写作等     

Diaspora policy in weakly governed arenas and the benefits of multipolar engagement: lessons from the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt

ABSTRACT

Much of the literature on diaspora policy frameworks assumes states are monolithic, with exclusively centralised decision-making and political and administrative capacity spread across decentralised units. Yet, decentralised units of government do engage directly with diasporas; and many countries seeking to engage their diasporas suffer from limited capacity and reach to jurisdictions far from their capitals. In weak governing structures, diaspora policy is likely to be less formal, and ad hoc. The Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt is the de facto public service provider to Coptic communities in Egypt. Like the Egyptian state, it suffers from limited control of its decentralised dioceses. The Church's implicit and decentralised diaspora policy demonstrates the complexity and benefits of multipolar diaspora engagement. It offers a menu of options that may maximise the deepening of diaspora identity and the material contributions diasporas make in the country of origin, and the sustenance of both. The analysis supports a political economy, and especially governmentality, explanation for differences in diaspora policy.     

Securing the diasporic ‘self’ by travelling abroad: Taglit-Birthright and ontological security

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the literature on diaspora politics has focused primarily on why and when migrant or ethno-religious groups adopt a diasporic stance and mobilise on behalf of their homeland. The ability of a community to sustain a diasporic stance across generations is less explored and often assumed to be dependent on discrimination in the host country or events in the homeland. By contrast, this article focuses on internal dynamics of the Jewish-American community to explore the development of Taglit-Birthright – a free educational trip to Israel offered to young Jewish adults. Drawing on the concept of ontological security – security of identity and subjectivity – I argue that the decision to invest in such a costly and experimental programme was the result of two perceived threats to Jewish diasporic identity: the threat to the diasporic narrative and the threat to the relationship with the homeland. Evidence for this claim is generated through interpretation of internal documents, media reports, and secondary literature.     

‘We’re not coming from Mars; we know how things work in Morocco!’ How diasporic Moroccan youth resists political socialisation in state-led homeland tours

ABSTRACT

Diaspora policies, to be defined as emigrant state policies aiming at maintaining and strengthening ties with its expatriate population, have become a regular feature of twenty-first century international politics. A particular diaspora policy strategy adopted by various emigration countries including Morocco is the introduction of state-led homeland tours. These can be understood as an origin-state tool to socialise mainly young expatriate community members with homeland orientations and identities. Both by opponents as by sympathisers of these tours, it is often assumed that homeland tours are effective in their socialisation project. However, this assumption undervalues the agency of tour participants. This article presents an in-depth investigation of the Moroccan Summer Universities, annual state-led homeland tours for college and university students of Moroccan descent, based on participant observation and qualitative interviews. The analysis highlights the tour participants’ resistance against both discourses and practices of these homeland tours’ organisers. As such, the article attends to the need to understand better how state diaspora policies are received by young members of the diaspora, in a situation where state–diaspora relations are tense and policies are top-down.     

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.     

论斯图亚特·霍尔的文化认同观

晚近以来,传统的认同形式在主体身份破碎、流离的境况下逐渐被消解,人们开始面临各种"认同的危机"。英国著名学者斯图亚特·霍尔以文化研究的视角开展对认同的研究,他指出,文化认同是动态的,永远处于过程当中,就像一件随时都在生产,但是永远都没有完成、也不会完成的产品。因此,对文化认同的思考应该由传统的"我是谁""我来自何方"转变为"我将会是什么样的""我将要到何方"。这一转变对研究现代性流散、混杂的社会主体的文化认同具有较为深远的意义,也是我们探索现代性社会主体"文化认同"的一条重要路径。     

论纳博科夫的流亡意识与纳博科夫研究的多元文化视角

经历了从俄罗斯到欧洲各国及美洲大陆的多年流亡之后,纳博科夫形成了根深蒂固的流亡意识。文章分析了纳博科夫流亡意识的内涵,论证以俄罗斯文化及多元文化视角进行纳博科夫研究的重要性。     

MAKING IT TRADEABLE: VIDEOTAPES,CULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES AND DIASPORAS

In this commentary I address some of the key ideas presented in Kolar-Panov's paper titled ‘Video as the diasporic imagination of selfhood: a case study of the Croatians in Australia’ which was published in Cultural Studies 10: 2, 1996. My own research, conducted during the same period, on the same group of migrants and in the same country, found very little evidence to support some of the assertions made in the paper. I therefore challenge the author's main assumptions about the impact of video technology on the formation of diaspora identities and address some of the theoretical issues behind the notion that video technology is the first widespread postmodern communication medium. I highlight the intrinsic similarities between telecast and video technologies and show how Kolar-Panov's argument tends to slide into both technological and social determinism.