Beyond co-ethnicity: the politics of differentiating and integrating new immigrants in Singapore

This essay joins the ongoing debates about the role of co-ethnic ties in the making of diaspora identity by examining Singaporean Chinese perceptions of new immigrants from the mainland and the state's strategies in integrating the newcomers. The public discourses on new Chinese immigrants have produced three interlinked narratives: (1) newcomers are socially and culturally different from the mainstream and earlier immigrants; (2) newcomers have intensified the competition for scarce resources; and (3) newcomers are politically attached to China, whose rise as a global power only serves to reinforce such linkages. I argue that co-ethnicity and common cultural heritage play little role in shaping local Singaporeans' view of the new diaspora; instead, political pragmatism and new identity politics that prioritize the nation above ethnicity are the key factors influencing public attitudes and policy options regarding new immigrants. Furthermore, intra-diaspora differences/conflicts have reinforced interracial solidarity and contributed to the nation-building project.     

Making sense of ‘mixture’: states and the classification of ‘mixed’ people

Caribbean diaspora intellectuals have contributed significantly to African-American political struggles over the years, despite arguments by some African-American intellectuals about what they discern as West Indian negativism, extremism, and divisiveness in American political life. This essay examines the legacy of a representative sample of diasporic Caribbean intellectuals since the time of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and culminating in the 1970s, notably, Garvey, members of the African Blood Brotherhood [ABB], C.L.R. James, and Walter Rodney, to demonstrate the phenomenal ideological vision, organizational capability, and political activism they have brought into fostering solidarity with African Americans in the struggle for fundamental change. The focus here is on their respective contributions to the debate on the relationship between class and race in America and the black diaspora generally, which has helped to shape the form, and orient the direction of African-American and Caribbean diasporic struggles for the better part of the twentieth century.     

‘Diaspora’ diasporas' representations of their homelands: exploring the polymorphs

This essay attempts to make more pliable three overly rigid claims persistent in the diaspora literature: that diaspora members’ imaginations of the homeland are either beautifying/idealizing or unequivocally inimical; that their relations with the host country are inherently distant – they are in it but not of it; and that diasporism and (im)migrant transnationalism constitute two distinct phenomena. It also aims at genderizing the stubbornly genderless study of diasporas. The empirical analysis compares representations of the homeland among turn-of-the-twentieth-century and present-day lower-class Polish émigrés in the United States and the United Kingdom, first-wave (1959–61) Cuban refugees in Miami and 1956 Hungarian political refugees dispersed into different west European countries, and contemporary Mexican men and women migrants in the American Southwest. On the basis of these comparative assessments, the author identifies the major circumstances that shape diaspora members’ portrayals of the homeland.     

A theory of ethnic violence: ethnic incorporation and ethno-political mobilization in Bulgaria and Cyprus

This article argues that the political accommodation of ethnic groups is a major determinant of ethnic violence and its effects vary depending on the pre-existing levels of mobilization. Accordingly, civic assimilationism is the most effective ethnic incorporation mode in terms of ensuring that weakly mobilized ethnic groups remain peaceful. Liberal multiculturalism is most effective in terms of eliciting peaceful mobilizations from highly mobilized ethnic groups. The ethnocratic mode tends to be the most conducive to violent mobilization at both low and high pre-existing mobilization levels. The theory is explored through case studies of Turks in Bulgaria and Cyprus. By demonstrating how the effects of ethnic incorporation policies vary depending on pre-existing mobilization levels, the article also challenges previous assumptions about the relationship between political opening and ethnic mobilization. Such an account not only explains the political determinants of ethnic violence, but also indicates potential political remedies to such problems.     

Transnational childhood and adolescence: mobilizing Sahrawi identity and politics across time and space

This paper proposes the importance of examining not only how and when diasporas are mobilized by political brokers, but also which members of diasporic populations are strategically engaged both according to their own characteristics (including their age) and the nature of their diasporic hosting context. It explores how Sahrawi refugee children and youth in the Algeria-based Sahrawi refugee camps, Cuba, Syria and in Spain have been mobilized by their political representatives (Polisario), asking why particular cohorts of youth have been actively encouraged to promote and protect ‘the Sahrawi cause’, while other members of the diaspora have not. Drawing on a framework that facilitates comparison both within and across cases, the paper argues that a combination of factors influence the extent to which the Polisario is able and interested in activating the support of Sahrawi children and youth, including the characteristics of the students themselves, their position within the respective host contexts, and the space and resources available to the Polisario/SADR in each location.     

Political mobilization of a regional minority: Han Chinese settlers in Xinjiang

The tumultuous events of summer 2009 have brought Uighur protests and minority mobilization in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) to the forefront. But this focus overlooks similar protests organized by various groups of Han Chinese settlers over the years. This paper contributes to the body of literature on minority mobilization and ethnic relations in Xinjiang by illustrating how the political mobilization of a group that is simultaneously a national majority and a regional minority differs substantially from ‘traditional’ minority mobilization. Reviewing the main instances of Han Chinese political mobilization since the XUAR was created in 1955, I argue that two factors are particularly important in enabling their mobilization: the Han Chinese's subjective perception of discrimination and their close ethnic ties to the state. This paper concludes with a discussion on the presence of a cycle of protests between Han settlers and the Uighurs in Xinjiang.     

Preferential policies and the movement of the disadvantaged: The case of the Scheduled Castes in India

This article examines the effect of state actions on the political behaviour of disadvantaged minorities. Most studies of political mobilization fail to inquire about the role of the state in the formation and maintenance of political groups. This article describes the process through which the polity constructs new forms of group awareness and political action among previously inarticulate, unorganized sections of society. More specifically, it is about the political mobilization of an oppressed minority in India, the Scheduled Castes ‐ a group composed of distinct caste groups with specific cultural and occupational characteristics but lumped under a single category by the state. Through a longitudinal study comparing two periods in a state's political history I show how progressive state intervention in the form of preferential policies increased the political organization and activism of this oppressed minority. The analysis is based on a survey of government documents; coding of newspaper reports; interviews with politicians, administrative and police officials, grass‐roots activists and organizational leaders of the movement.     

Multiple hierarchies and the duplex nature of groups

This article examines the links between multiple hierarchies and a wide range of broad-based groups, in order to develop a theoretical framework capable of integrating group phenomena, social identities, and political mobilization. Various case-studies are used to illustrate how hierarchies between and within groups are obfuscated by discrepancies between the material and symbolic aspects of social reality. Yet such discrepancies, which are partly transparent, can generate contestation and the reconfiguration of groups. A duplexity model, which treats groups as a complex mix of embodied categories and observable attributes whose interconnections are contingent, can help unravel crosscutting social cleavages.     

Diasporas and secessionist conflicts: the mobilization of the Armenian,Albanian and Chechen diasporas

Abstract

This article examines the impact of diasporas on secessionist conflicts, focusing on the Albanian, Armenian and Chechen diasporas and the conflicts in Kosovo, Karabakh and Chechnya during the 1990s. How do diasporas radicalize these conflicts? I argue that despite differences in diaspora communal characteristics and the types of the secessionist conflicts, a common pattern of mobilization develops. Large-scale diasporic support for secessionism emerges only after independence is proclaimed by the local elites. From that point onwards diasporas become engaged in a conflict spiral, and transnational coalitions are formed between local secessionist and diaspora groups. Depending on the organizational strength of the local strategic centre and the diasporic institutions, these coalitions endure or dissipate. Diasporas exert radicalization influences on the conflict spiral on two specific junctures – when grave violations of human rights occur in the homeland and when local moderate elites start losing credibility that they can achieve the secessionist goal.     

Hindutva in the West: mapping the antinomies of diaspora nationalism

This introduction provides a historical background to Hindu nationalism and examines several theoretical and empirical themes that are important for its analysis both in India and the diaspora. It is argued that there has been a relative neglect within the research field of diaspora nationalist movements and the impact they can have on constituting antisecular and absolutist orientations to minorities and majorities both within the diaspora and in the “homeland”. The introduction examines the rise of the Hindutva movement in the 1920s and considers the debates about its relation to ethnic, nationalist, religious, racist and fascist ideologies. We consider how an examination of Hindu nationalism can modify many recent debates on “race” and ethnicity, multiculturalism and “diaspora”. Several themes relating to caste, gender and “Aryanism” are examined. The contents of this Special Issue are contextualized within these debates and a summary of the key themes of the contributions is provided.     

Flexible kinship: shaping transnational families among the Chinese in Tahiti

This article examines the practices of ‘flexible kinship’ used by Chinese migrants in colonial Tahiti. ‘Flexible kinship’ draws attention to the strategic uses that are made of kinship in the context of migration and diaspora: the adjustments to cultural, political, and legal borders that lead to changes in family forms and in the relations between kin. Using a multi‐generational perspective, I examine how families were shaped by successive changes and reversals in legal‐political and economic events and conjunctures over the long twentieth century. I argue for the importance of addressing transnational border‐crossing practices that involve not just a spatial extension of networks but also legal strategies within the host locality. I further show that if it is true that the Confucian hierarchical order has conditioned transnational practices of flexible kinship, then this hierarchy has not only bent to the circumstances, it has to a great extent been weakened. Finally, I argue that the history of familial adjustments has shaped a habitus that maximizes economic and legal security, especially among women.     

The transnational politics of the Ethiopian Muslim diaspora

Long distance nationalism is the dominant perspective in transnational studies. It depicts the diaspora primarily as ‘conflict-makers’ bent on advancing radical view points on homeland socio-political conflicts because of the unique decoupling of action from its consequences. Recent works have shifted the focus away from this negative image and have shown, through in-depth case studies, the constructive dimension of the transnational engagement of the diaspora. Two of these are the crucial role remittance plays in the development process in the country of origin and the peace building role of the diaspora in conflict and post conflict settings. The paper seeks to contribute to the diaspora-peace building literature through a case study of the Ethiopian Muslim diaspora in Europe and North America.     

Diaspora and its discontents: A Caribbean fragment in Toronto in quest of cultural recognition and political empowerment

The essay examines the role of The Ontario Society for Services to the Indo-Caribbean Community [OSSICC], a historic organization that sought to assert the dignity and re-discover the identity of Indo-Caribbean persons as a fragment of the Caribbean diaspora in Toronto, Canada. While it points to the achievement in representing the interests of its members for symbolic cultural recognition, it underscored the limitations in the political arena for empowerment, power sharing, and equality in employment opportunities and for an equitable share of the resources of the state. Further, it describes how the ethnic conflict in the homeland persisted in the new site of the diaspora, about lost opportunities for healing, and about inter-generational discontinuities in the reconstruction of the Caribbean self. On a larger scale, the article is about membership and citizenship in the new homeland of the diaspora, its seductions and betrayals in the new frontier of Canadian multiculturalism.     

Ethnic minority identity and movement politics: The case of the Roma in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

The level of political mobilization among ethnic minorities in Central and Eastern Europe has often been regarded as directly dependent on the strong or weak ethnic identity of the groups involved. Less attention has gone to the role of ethnic leaders in creating ethnic group identities for political purposes. This article explores the influence of political mobilization on ethnic group formation in the case of the Roma (Gypsies) in the contemporary Czech and Slovak Republics. It examines the various ways in which Romani activists in these two countries have “framed” Romani identity. The article suggests that activists’ conceptions of Romani identity are closely tied to their political strategies. At the same time, Romani activists have not been able to gain complete control over the production of Romani identity. They have had to deal with powerful schemes of ethnic categorization promulgated by the media, public officials and policy documents.     

When the state is (n)ever present: on cynicism and political mobilization in Lebanon

This article looks at the way cynical reasoning consumes political action in Lebanon. Through ethnographic observations with political activists and former militia fighters, specifically during the final days of the 2009 Lebanese parliamentary elections, I show how cynicism is present in political mobilization. I argue that political mobilization moves between modes of cynicism and resistance, calling on us to see these two postures as discursively related. This work has broader implications for understanding political reactions and mobilizations in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab revolts.     

Struggling for cultural survival: Hungarian identity discourses in the face of assimilation

The Hungarian immigrant community in Australia is struggling with cultural survival. The diaspora has experienced a general decline in community participation as a result of the aging of the émigré population and the rapid assimilation of subsequent generations. Using data derived from the series of annual community‐organised conferences called Megmaradásunk Konferenciák, this article compares the different discourses articulated by community leaders in Australia seeking to preserve and strengthen the diaspora community. I examine how newly emerged narratives of ‘diaspora death’ and cultural survival are debated and how possibilities of strengthened connections with Hungary have impacted these discussions.     

The Antillese in France: Trends and prospects

The cultural drives in the Antillese population in continental France have switched, in step with migration dynamics, in direction and target: they focus less than in the past on the future of the ‘native lands’ and more on improved integration in the host country. But in such a situation, facing racism, Antillese peoples in France are paradoxically reduced to emphasizing their collective identity, notably through associations, to obtain recognition from the host society’s institutions and achieve social advancement within that society. A recognition of the diversity and complexity of the cultural dynamics in question should lead to break with any essentialist thinking and, then, to reappraise many of the ideas that are at the heart of the discussions inspired by those dynamics, notably the idea of diaspora.     

On violence,intersectionality and transversal politics

The persistence of violence over the past several decades coupled with the explosive growth of intersectionality as a form of critical inquiry and praxis suggest that the connections between violence, intersecting power relations and political resistance remain highly salient. In this commentary, I ask, in what ways might continuing to focus on violence illuminate the connections between intersecting systems of power and on the contours of political resistance? To address this question, I revisit two themes in “The Tie That Binds: Race, Gender and US Violence”, namely, (1) how conceptualizing violence as a saturated site of intersecting power relations contributes to analyses of political domination and (2) how attending to the analyses and actions of African American women and similarly subordinated groups deepens understandings of flexible solidarity as a core feature of transversal politics.     

Ethnic mobilization and the state: the Roma in Eastern Europe

The political mobilization of marginalized ethnic groups is a process indispensable for the realization of their political objectives. This article identifies the key criteria and conditions that promote and impede successful ethnic mobilization and analyses the determinants of state policy towards newly mobilizing ethnic minorities. The theoretical arguments receive empirical support from the findings of a comparative study of the Romani (Gypsy) minority in seven East European states.     

Haiti, insecurity, and the politics of asylum

In this article, I seek to show how states of insecurity provoked by ongoing social, economic, and political ruptures in Haiti can disorder individual subjectivity and generate the flight of individuals seeking asylum within and across borders. Nongovernmental actors working in Haiti and with Haitians in the diaspora frequently managed the long-term psychosocial effects of insecurity. Their interventions can range from repressive to compassionate and influence the formation of identity and the embodied experiences of trauma for vulnerable Haitians. The case of a young Haitian refugee who was repatriated to Haiti from the United States in the 1990s demonstrates how insecurity is both an existential state reflecting the disordering of embodied experience, as well as a collective sociopolitical condition the effects of which cannot be managed or contained within national borders. The case is emblematic of the plight of thousands of Haitians affected by the January 12, 2010, earthquake.