Transnational Diaspora Communities Callia Tellez

TDC's Defined ➢ scattered population with a common origin in a smaller geographic area ○can refer to movement of the population from original homeland ➢ transnational community defined as a singular ethnic group based upon a shared identity ○Result from historical migration

TDC Qualities ➢ Self identified diasporas place great importance on their homeland ○led to ethnic nationalist movements ■form of nationalism wherein the “nation” is defined by ethnicity ➢ rare for complete diaspora population to return to the homeland ➢ remaining diaspora community usually retains significant “emotional attachment to homeland and co-ethnic population

Qualities cont. ➢ perceived as transnational political entities operating on “behalf of their entire people” and “capable of acting independently from any individual state” ➢ Yossi Shain, “Diaspora Communities are now recognized by scholars as “inevitable” features of the international system for following reasons

features ○1) within each diaspora’s host states, resident members can organize domestically to max. their political poll ○2) can exert significant pressure in homeland’s domestic political arena ○3) diaspora’s transnational community can engage directly with third-party states and international organizations, bypassing it’s homeland and host state governments

Examples Pre WW2 ➢ African Diaspora ○ million people from Africa transported to western hemisphere as slaves ○population and descendants major influences on culture of french, english, italian, spanish new world colonies ➢ Asian Diaspora ○mass emigration caused by starvation in mainland China to Americas, Australia, South Africa and southeast Asia ➢ Indian Diaspora ○overseas Indian community of 25 million spread across continents, constitutes a diverse, heterogeneous global community representing different regions, languages, cultures, and faiths

Post WW2 Examples ➢ Deportation and fleeing of Jews, Ukrainians, and Russians due to Nazi Germany ○fled to unoccupied parts of western Europe and Americas ➢ Creation of state of Israel, Middle East nations became more hostile in relation to historic Jewish population ○1 million migrated, became known Mizrahi Jews ➢ Cambodian Diaspora, 30,000 french colons from Cambodia displaced after being expelled by the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot ➢ Afghan Diaspora, 1979 invasion by former Soviet Union, displaced 6 mil resulting in creation of the largest refugee population worldwide today

criticism ➢ decrease in presence caused by emigration complicates home country on economic level including pressure on prices and employment