Overview

The Microfoundations of Diaspora Politics examines 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. Extant theories are often hard-pressed to capture the empirical variation and often end up identifying ‘exceptions’. The multidisciplinary group of contributors in this book theorise these ‘exceptions’ through three interrelated conceptual moves: first, by focusing on understudied 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, by examining dyads of ‘origin’ states and specific diasporic communities differentiated by time of emigration, place of residence, socio-economic status, migratory status, generation, or skills. Third, by considering migration in its multiple spatial and temporal phases (emigration, immigration, transit, return) and how they intersect to constitute diasporic identities and policies. These conceptual moves facilitate comparative research and help scholars identify the mechanisms connecting structural variables with specific policies by states (and other actors) as well as responses by the relevant diasporic communities. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

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9781032042787

Table of Contents

Reviews

An innovative and well-researched volume that provides an important corrective to state-centric approaches to diasporic engagement policies. The chapters examine a wide range of national, subnational, and non-state institutions and the extent to which they engage or disengage from diasporic populations abroad, whose consciousness and experiences interface with official state narratives in different ways. There are few studies of diasporic politics that examine such a wide range of variables and outcomes. - Takeyuki (Gaku) Tsuda, Professor of Anthropology, School of Human Evolution & Social Change, Arizona State University

An innovative and well-researched volume that provides an important corrective to state-centric approaches to diasporic engagement policies. The chapters examine a wide range of national, subnational, and non-state institutions and the extent to which they engage or disengage from diasporic populations abroad, whose consciousness and experiences interface with official state narratives in different ways. There are few studies of diasporic politics that examine such a wide range of variables and outcomes. - Takeyuki (Gaku) Tsuda, Professor of Anthropology, School of Human Evolution & Social Change, Arizona State University For a long time, state-centred analyses focused on relationships between analytically homogenized states and 'their' diasporas. The contributors to this volume show that diasporic populations have many-sided and complex connections to homelands, often at a micro-level, but they are rarely subordinate or passive players. This book demonstrates that to understand diasporas, we need fully to excavate the social and political spaces above and below the national. - Robin Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Development Studies, University of Oxford

Author Information

Alexandra Délano Alonso is Associate Professor and Chair of Global Studies at The New School. Her work focuses on diaspora policies, Mexico-US migration, and the politics of memory in relation to borders and violence. Her most recent book is From Here and There: Diaspora Policies, Integration and Social Rights beyond Borders (Oxford University Press, 2018). Harris Mylonas’s research contributes to our understanding of states’ management of diversity that may originate from national minorities, immigrants, diasporas, or refugees. He is Associate Professor of Political Science at George Washington University and the editor-in-chief of Nationalities Papers. His most recent book is The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities (Cambridge University Press, 2013).

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