Building Diaspora

Emily Noelle Ignacio explores how Filipinos have used the Internet's subtle, cyber, but very real social connections to construct and reinforce a sense of national, ethnic, and racial identity with distant others.

The Hadramis of South Yemen and the emergence of their diasporic communities throughout the Indian Ocean region are an intriguing facet of the history of this region’s migratory patterns. In the early centuries of migration, the Yemeni, or Hadrami, traveler was both a trader and a religious missionary, making the migrant community both a “trade diaspora” and a “religious diaspora.” This tradition has continued as Hadramis around the world have been linked to networks of extremist, Islamic-inspired movements—Osama bin Laden, leader of Al Qaeda and descendant of a prominent Hadrami family, as the most infamous example. However, communities of Hadramis living outside Yemen are not homogenous. The author expertly elucidates the complexity of the diasporic process, showing how it contrasts with the conventional understanding of the Hadrami diaspora as an unchanging society with predefined cultural characteristics originating in the homeland. Exploring ethnic, social, and religious aspects, the author offers a deepened understanding of links between Yemen and Indian Ocean regions (including India, Southeast Asia, and the Horn of Africa) and the emerging international community of Muslims.

Return migration has received growing levels of attention in both academic and policy circles in recent years, as the African diaspora's role in contributing to the development of their country of origin has become apparent. However, little is known about the lived experiences of those who come back, and even less about the ways in which their return shapes socio-political dynamics on the ground. This book aims to unpack the complexities of migrant transnational experiences as situated in global political and economic processes. In particular, the book takes the case of the return of skilled and educated Somalis from Western Europe and North America, in an attempt to recast the idea of diaspora return and transnational ethnography in a more political light, and to show how these returnees are both subject to and generative of important political conditions that are transforming Somaliland society. Overall, the book captures the complexities of the migrant's position, showing that "return" is rarely permanent, and that success comes from perpetuating the transnational stance. This book will appeal to scholars of migration, diaspora, development and African studies, as well as to those interested in the Somali case specifically, the third biggest community of refugees in the world.

Caribbean Studies Association Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Award - Honorable Mention The initial push for a federation among British Caribbean colonies might have originated among colonial officials and white elites, but the banner for federation was quickly picked up by Afro-Caribbean activists who saw in the possibility of a united West Indian nation a means of securing political power and more. In Building a Nation, Eric Duke moves beyond the narrow view of federation as only relevant to Caribbean and British imperial histories. By examining support for federation among many Afro-Caribbean and other black activists in and out of the West Indies, Duke convincingly expands and connects the movement's history squarely into the wider history of political and social activism in the early to mid-twentieth century black diaspora. Exploring the relationships between the pursuit of Caribbean federation and black diaspora politics, Duke convincingly posits that federation was more than a regional endeavor; it was a diasporic, black nation-building undertaking--with broad support in diaspora centers such as Harlem and London--deeply immersed in ideas of racial unity, racial uplift, and black self-determination. A volume in this series New World Diasporas, edited by Kevin A. Yelvington

Over 33 million strong Indian diasporas spread all over the world has been an exceptionally successful story. Given their skills and other social qualities, they are also among the most sought after lots in most countries. Indian diaspora has performed well on all important parameters Ñ political, economical, technological and cultural. PIOs are amongst the top skilled, employable and prosperous non-native people in most countries. They are heading some of the top multinational companies and hold high positions in many international organisations, in a way making an important contribution to the evolving global agenda. Today, Indian diaspora is investing in creating jobs and cutting edge technologies world over. India has also done very well in reaching out to its diaspora through various channels, including the youth. At over USD 75 billion annually, India is the top recipient of remittances. Diaspora could also be an important source of technology and know-how. Given their goodwill on both sides, they are a great source of confidence-building between India and countries of their adoption and have demonstrated their clout on many occasions. Over the last many centuries, Indians have travelled to many near and far off destinations in the world for trade, business, education and jobs. One major wave of such movement was carried out by the colonial administration under the so called indentured system for meeting labour shortages in their overseas plantations. This inhuman system of exploitation of workers finally ended and the centenary of its abolition was commemorated in many parts of the world including India during 2017-18. Antar Rashtrya Sahyog Parishad (ARSP) had organised year long activities to mark this important land mark in the life of Indian diaspora, culminating with an international conference on the topic, ÔContribution of Diaspora in Nation BuildingÕ in Mauritius in July 2018. Several leaders and scholars addressed this gathering and this publication captures the essence of its outcomes. This publication could be a good reference for students and scholars working on diaspora.

The New African Diaspora in Vancouver documents the experiences of immigrants from countries in sub-Saharan Africa on Canada's west coast. Despite their individual national origins, many adopt new identities as 'African' and are actively engaged in creating a new, place-based 'African community.' In this study, Gillian Creese analyzes interviews with sixty-one women and men from twenty-one African countries to document the gendered and racialized processes of community-building that occur in the contexts of marginalization and exclusion as they exist in Vancouver. Creese reveals that the routine discounting of previous education by potential employers, the demeaning of African accents and bodies by society at large, cultural pressures to reshape gender relations and parenting practices, and the absence of extended families often contribute to downward mobility for immigrants. The New African Diaspora in Vancouver maps out how African immigrants negotiate these multiple dimensions of local exclusion while at the same time creating new spaces of belonging and emerging collective identity.

Drawing on examples from the global North and South, this book examines the relationship between migration, development and diaspora engagement from a governance perspective. It explores the ways that governments interact with their own extra-national diasporic populations in order to boost economic development, build global trading and investment networks, and increase their political leverage overseas. Inside, readers will find fifteen essays which highlight such issues as diaspora engagement by governments at different scales, the divisions that often exist within diaspora groups, diaspora transnationalism and return migration, diaspora knowledge networks and higher education capacity building, and the neglected issues of South-South migration and diasporas as well as North-South migration and diasporas. The book presents empirical case studies from various geographical contexts including Australia, Canada, the Philippines, India, the Caribbean, Zimbabwe, and the United States. Overall, this book presents fresh insights into how and why migrant-sending countries are increasingly turning to the diaspora option to attempt to benefit from the transfer of knowledge, skills and financial and social capital. It provides policy makers, researchers, and students with new perspectives on governance and the means by which states are attempting to utilize their diaspora resources.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, millions of Romanians emigrated in search of work and new experiences; they became engaged in an interrogation of what it meant to be Romanian in a united Europe and the globalized world. Their thoughts, feelings and hopes soon began to populate the virtual world of digital and mobile technologies. This book chronicles the online cultural and political expressions of the Romanian diaspora using websites based in Europe and North America. Through online exchanges, Romanians perform new types of citizenship, articulated from the margins of the political field. The politicization of their diasporic condition is manifested through written and public protests against discriminatory work legislation, mobilization, lobbying, cultural promotion and setting up associations and political parties that are proof of the gradual institutionalization of informal communications. Online discourse analysis, supplemented by interviews with migrants, poets and politicians involved in the process of defining new diasporic identities, provide the basis of this book, which defines the new cultural and political practices of the Romanian diaspora.