Diaspora Studies

This presentation, given to the Leicester Secular Society, the oldest secular society in the world, founded in 1851, outlines the context of the 'Hindu'-'Muslim' disorder in the city of Leicester in September 2022. This disorder occurred in a city that prides its self as the model of multiculturalism in the UK and in popular discourses was attributed to external factors - outsiders, the influence of social media, and the role of transnational agents, especially from South Asia. However, this presentation argues that we need to look at the social, economic, and political changes within the city over the last two decades to understand the context why this disorder was more likely to occur. Reflecting on the comparative experience of other cities and countries, the presentation offers new insights into the causes and consequences of the disorder, and of new ways of imagining the political future of a global, super-diver Leicester.

India and Canada are locked in a diplomatic spat which is turning murkier by the day. Canadian Premier Justine Trudeau sparked the row with his allegations against India over the unsolved murder last June of a fugitive Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar (45). And found New Delhi in an unusually belligerence mood.

This article explores an alter-native (that is, to use native insights to alter existing knowledge and modes, and to alter native insights if they tend to serve the interests of colonizers/outsiders rather than the colonized/locals) way of reading the Bible based on the Tongan notion of tālanga, and from the perspective of a Tongan tu'a (commoner). The intention is to contribute in a small way to the ongoing attempt by indigenous scholars to promote a shift from the restrictive tendency of Western scholarship into a more open mode; from one that is dictated by disciplinary questions to another that is shaped by practical questions; from approaches that serve academia to ones that serve the community in which real people live. The term tālanga is herein defined as a way of being and a way of speaking, and thus theorized as a way of reading. Its key elements serve as analytical lenses for a mode of interpretation that aims to be critical and liberating at once.

Sharon Pollock (1936-) was one of the major contributors to the Anglophone-Canadian theatre that seeks to establish Canadian power through identity. Her effort coincided with the seventies' epoch of Canadian national theatrical awakening. Pollock was provoked by the rarity of Canadian stories on the stage. She realized that the literary production was dominated by the United States or England and the actors were intended to sound like English or the United States. During that Period, she focused on establishing the Canadian independent identity through the production of historical stories. Being newly de-colonized country, Canada wanted to establish a white identity through the racial selection of the desirables and the exclusion of the non-European immigrants.Pollock's historical Inquiry revealed the methods that Canada utilized. Pollock pinpoints that even those who were beneficial to Canada were cast aside because they were non-white. The paper adopts two principles of Critical Race Theory to further detect the use of Institutionalized Racism in the plays. Sharon Pollock tackled controversial Canadian history of oppression and segregation against minorities, such as the native people and the Sikh community. The Komagata Maru incident examines Canadian and East-Indian immigration policy under the Umbrella of the British Empire.

Of Marc Dollinger's many interesting insights into American Jewish political behavior, his most daring may be the following: when American Jews feel directly threatened, as during the Holocaust or when they resided in the segregated South, they do not show any particular political affinity with other groups that are even more oppressed. When in trouble, the famous "liberalism" of the Jews disappears.1 My own work substantiates a complementary phenomenon that is less surprising but perhaps still puzzling. When American Jews are blessed with periods of success and inclusion, they tend to identify with those who remain marginalized, even acting politically to support them. When Jews are making it, they jeopardize their social position by pairing themselves with America's outcasts, not simply by helping them but by claiming they belong among them. I call this behavior outsider identification. From the perspective of rational self-interest, the former behavior makes a great deal of sense. When under attack, Jews circle the wagons and worry about themselves. Dollinger's insight may be uncomfortable for those who prefer to explain contemporary Jewish behavior in the light of Isaiah's prophecy. However, most Jews realize that the prophetic ethical tradition is not uniquely theirs, but that helping the orphan and the widow is an ideal widely shared in both the ancient and modern worlds.

Military coups are nothing new in the 21st century. Myanmar's military overthrew the existing democratic government in a coup d'état to gain power. Opium is the key behind the Myanmar military coup taking place in 2021. This article was written using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. News in the mass media, both print and online, is also a source. The thirst for power has influenced the existing military so that actions without morals are committed. Many people consider that the coup carried out by the Myanmar military was an ordinary coup that was normalized because of the thirst for power. But behind that thirst for power lies a bigger plan for profit. The public needs to see the real reason behind the coup carried out by the Myanmar military in 2021 so that it can clearly and structuredly understand the coup that was carried out in 2021 which further put Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest Keywords: Opium, Government, Military, Power, Coup

Bearing in mind the Japanese context, this paper elaborates on how maintenance of international children’s heritage language (HL) might contribute to the spread of bilingualism in the country. It also expands on the ways these young learners see themselves as well as how they are seen by their families and within their academic context. It is argued that young HL learners’ propensity towards bilingualism might not only pave these children’s way to the acquisition of a second and/or foreign language, but also contribute to future developments in foreign language learning among the monolingual sectors of society

Politikas rekomendāciju sērijā — īsi praktiski secinājumi par galveniem migrācijas pētījumu virzieniem. Īsumā Vislielākā nozīme integrācijas veicināšanā ir uzņemošajai sabiedrībai. Ja migranta nākotne, tai skaitā uzturēšanās ilgums un iespēja konkrētajā valstī, ir neskaidra, mazinās motivācija integrācijā investēt laiku un pūles. Nepieciešams pārskatīt integrācijas indikatorus. Vēlams, lai mēģinājumi veicināt integrāciju kļūtu holistiskāki, atvērtāki un vairāk «uz migrantiem vērsti». Piedāvātais konceptuālais modelis var palīdzēt teorētiķiem labāk ilustrēt mūsdienu migrantu adaptācijas procesus.

Migration researchers from East-Central Europe most often focus on the impact of ‘brain drain’ which is characterised by the loss of human capital from emigration. In this paper focus is placed on the assumption that migrants living abroad gain valuable experiences and education opportunities, that lead to personal growth, facilitate entrepreneurship and psychological resilience, amongst other important skills. This experience may be used for the revitalisation of the less-developed regions the migrants return to. To explore what facilitates or inhibits the fulfil potential of ‘brain circulation’ or gain, we use data from two large-scale surveys of return migrants in Latvia, in-depth interviews, media analysis, regional workshops and secondary data. We find that return migrants often choose to return to the capital city and not their original point of departure. While towns and villages offer some advantages such as little competition, easier adaptation and high neighbourhood qualit...

This chapter studies the relationships and interaction among the Latvian emigrants from different migration waves in the United States. It specifically examines reasons for the inability of the existing and politically and culturally active Latvian diaspora community in the United States to integrate newcomers from Latvia. The diaspora community is formed mostly of migrants who left Latvia after World War II. The research is based on a mix of two sources of information and methods – qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with the ‘new’ Latvian emigrants in the United States in 2014, who began arriving there in 1991 and quantitative data analysis of The Emigrant Communities of Latvia survey. The study illustrates that the migrants from the most recent emigration wave distance themselves to a large extent from the previous migration wave. Additionally, the most recent migrants do not have strong social ties or active networks with Latvians back home and, therefore, cannot be cons...

This chapter analyses how ethnic transnational identities are manifested and negotiated on the social networking sites used by Latvian migrants. Although migrants as well as other people use various personal media, including Skype, chat apps such as WhatsApp and telephones, social networking sites stand out with the diversity of functions in migrant communication. This includes one-to-one exchanges, group communication and the ability to locate and connect with users who may or may not be familiar offline. We argue that social networking sites and particularly thematic groups on these sites that migrants create and join serve as forums or bulletin boards where they exchange practical information and are able to communicate with other Latvians who live nearby – and that these uses have implications for the communication of identity. The empirical data in the chapter comes from 20 semi-structured interviews with Latvian migrants who live in a variety of countries and were recruited fo...

The aim of the article is to discuss the diverse nature of code-switching and mixing phenomena on different language levels. In the field of phonetics, morphology and lexis, researchers most often focus on the interlingual influence in the form of interference, while code-switching is a phenomenon that occurs at the level of syntax. In this article about linguistic material from a Polish language island in a Russian environment (the village of Vershina in Siberia), examples of lexical and structural borrowings and various forms of language change during speech were indicated. However, this approach only allows for the characterization of selected fragments of utterances, while whole texts function in live communication. Therefore, it was proposed to include the most complex level of language, i.e., the text as such, in the analyses of code-switching and mixing. Selected examples show how this complementation affects the perception of phenomena related to bilingualism.

It has been over twenty years since Donna Gabaccia's seminal work "Italy's Many Diasporas" was published (London & New York, 2000). Much has changed since then, but this book remains a classic. The author discusses with Lucy Riall and Konstantina Zanou the developments in the historiography on the Italian and other diasporas over the last two decades.
Register at https://events.columbia.edu/go/diasporas

Hellenistik Devletler ve Roma İmparatorluğu Dönemi’nde Anadolu coğrafyasındaki Yahudi varlığının tespiti konusunun yöntemi üzerinde ciddi tartışmalar yapılmaktadır. Yahudi kültürü ile yerel halk kültürünü ayırmadaki zorluklar tartışmaların ana noktasını oluşturmaktadır. Küçük Asya Bölgesi, Yahudi örgütlenmesinin ve nüfusunun en etkin olduğu Diasporalardan birisidir. Yahudi varlığının daha iyi anlaşılması için bölge genelinde ilk bakmamız gereken iki Yahudi kültürel öğesinden bahsedebiliriz; birincisi Yahudi kültürüne yönelik atıflar, ikincisi ise ibadet merkezlerinden elde edilen malzemelerdir. Sardis Sinagogu hem Roma İmparatorluğu’nun şehir yönetimini anlamada, hem de şehirdeki Yahudi nüfusunun kültürel öğelerini görme noktasında bize oldukça değerli bilgiler sağlamaktadır. Türkçe dışındaki dillerde yazılmış Sardis Sinagogu ve Küçük Asya Diasporası ile ilgili fazlaca çalışma bulunmakla birlikte Türkçe eserlerin çok kısıtlı olması Türk tarihçileri ve tarih öğrencileri açısından yabancı dillerdeki geniş literatür içerisinde kaybolmalarına ve konuya karşı ön yargılı davranmalarına sebep olmaktadır. Diğer yandan yurtdışında yapılan araştırmaların sinagog yapısını değerlendirme aşamasında Filistin Bölgesindeki Yahudi yaşamına fazlaca bağlı kalmaları Küçük Asya’daki Yahudi kültürünü anlama noktasında yanlış değerlendirmeler yapmalarına neden olmaktadır. Bölgeden bölgeye değişen kültürel öğelerin Yahudi dini anlayışını etkilediği unutulmamalıdır. Bu çalışma ile Sardis Sinagogu’nu ve Yahudi kültürünü tüm yönleriyle değerlendirmeye olanak sağlamayı ayrıca Küçük Asya içerisindeki Yahudi buluntuları ile Sardis Sinagogu’ndan elde ettiğimiz malzemeyi karşılaştırmalı değerlendirmenin önemini göstermeyi amaçlamaktadır.

O fenomeno de jovens trabalhadores bolivianos de ambos os sexos que migram para a cidade de Sao Paulo em busca de melhores condicoes de vida, tem sido determinado principalmente pela possibilidade de encontrar trabalho e remuneracao melhores do que aqueles encontrados em seu pais de origem. A maior parte dos imigrantes desconhece as condicoes que trabalho que encontrarao no destino, sendo a costura, muitas vezes, a unica opcao de trabalho viavel quando da chegada ao destino, tendo garantia, tambem, de morada, alimentacao e remuneracao. Os imigrantes, e em alguns casos seus filhos, vivenciam varios problemas de saude gerados pelas precarias condicoes de higiene, saude e trabalho presentes nas oficinas de costura. Uma parte importante dos imigrantes nao frequenta os centros de saude para tratar seus problemas devido ao desconhecimento sobre os servicos, medo, barreiras linguisticas e, principalmente, porque nao podem interromper a jornada de trabalho sob risco de diminuicao da renda a...

Afghan presence in India dates back centuries. It exists in the form of goods, language, cultural and political influences, and other subtler yet significant forms. The influx of Afghan students, traders, and medical tourists in India, especially post the 2001 regime change in Afghanistan, has given a boost to the relations between the two historical neighbors. The Afghan diaspora in India has, however, maintained its distinct cultural identity through language, food, crafts, and commodity exchanges, giving
rise to transnational social formation. In recent years, among other ways, Afghans have maintained these transnational connections through the media. While the transnational flow of Indian media, including its
consumption and influence in Afghanistan, has been thoroughly looked into by scholars, the role and influence of Afghan media among the Afghan diaspora in India have largely remained unexplored. This paper looks into how the Afghan diaspora in Delhi engages with media from their homeland. By using ethnographic tropes and by taking a cue from works of transnational media studies, the paper attempts to trace the flows, media consumption, and its influence in keeping the idea of ‘Afghaness’ thriving away from the ‘homeland’.

Recent public mobilisations in certain Western countries of separatists demanding that a homeland for Sikhs be created in Punjab (or Khalistan) are raising concerns about the threats that these groups pose to India’s security. Tamil Eelam nationalists are also continuing to mobilise themselves in activities hostile to Sri Lanka that openly display militant iconography and messages. What motivates host countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom (UK), to give these movements space to carry out their activities, even at the risk of dire diplomatic consequences? This brief examines the similar and dissimilar traits of the diasporic Khalistani and Tamil Eelam movements, and outlines the normative, political and economic factors that dissuade foreign governments from
taking appropriate measures against them.

En este artículo se explican, analizan y fundamentan a las principales razonesque determinan  el  cómo y el por qué la innovación ha sido clave para lamejora de la calidad de vida desde la Revolución Industrial. Hoy, el resultadode la innovación es un factor crucial, determinante de la competitividad ydel progreso nacional. La inversión en conocimiento y activos intelectualesson la clave para la creación de valor. La innovación es  también importantea la hora de ayudar a abordar los desafíos mundiales, tales como: el cambioclimático y el desarrollo sostenible.      Se analizan las causas y las formas en las que la globalización tambiénha aumentado la presión sobre los países de la OCDE para que cambien suposición en la cadena de valor y participen en un proceso ininterrumpidode ajuste e innovación. Finalmente, se explican y analizan los casos de lasprincipales  economías  emergentes,  concretamente  a  países  como  China  eIndia que no son ya simplemente, productores de bajo valor añadido sinoque están aumentando su presencia en la creación y la comercialización deproductos, procesos y servicios innovadores (OCDE, 2007).

Changes shaping the labour market in the 21st century mark new guidelines for general education schools. Transformation of the education system of the state is defined by variable social and economic conditions in Latvia, Europe and the world. In that context, it is important to ensure the implementation of career guidance in schools. In various general education schools of Latvia, the implementation of career guidance is distinctly different. The availability of career guidance for students is insufficient, the guidance is not rendered systematically and purposefully, there are differences among city schools and village schools and it is also affected by the number of students in educational institutions and by the availability of various career specialists. The aim of the research is to examine the diversity of career guidance in various general secondary education institutions. The research explores, analyses and evaluates the data acquired from general secondary education school...

Arab Americans living in the United States are represented in the intriguing and varied body of Arab American Literature. It is a diverse and significant body of writing that reflects the experiences and perspectives of Arab Americans in the United States. It explores powerful examples of how difficult it is to deal with identity, heritage, and belonging concerns in a diverse community. Arab American writers, from Ameen Rihani to Naomi Shihab Nye, have made creative contributions with their viewpoints, illuminating the rich tapestry of life in Arab America in everything from provocative novels to tender poetry and perceptive essays. However, Arab American authors have faced numerous challenges, including prejudice, stereotypes, language barriers, and limited publishing opportunities. Despite these obstacles, they have persisted in using their literary works as a means of self-expression, cultural preservation, and empowerment. To promote the visibility and acknowledgment of Arab Ame...

The general education program designing and licensing trends in Latvia in the period from 2010 to 2014 are analyzed in the article. Based on the general education program licensing data, it found that there isn’t a trend to license author’s program in primary education, while the secondary level of education author's programs are designed and licensed more often. The fact that primary education is more licensed programs in mathematics, science and technology, but in general secondary education – the humanitarian and social direction of the program suggest a possible gap in primary and secondary education. At the same time it found that a quarter of all licensed educational programs is not implemented, which could be result of socio-economic and political change in society.

This article focuses on the notion of bio-surveillance in Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss (2006) from the perspectives of Ajana and Foucault. It tries to discuss why postcolonial journeying, despite its reputation for upsetting the old colonial paradigms of cultural demarcations, has ended up in the invisible biocitizenship of diasporic figures. To this end, the article elaborates on the biometric measures, ranging from the classic model of Anthropometry to the most advanced biometric technologies, and their deployment at the service of securitization in the center of empire. It is argued that these measures, by keeping the colonial paradigm of otherization intact, have divided society into friends / enemies and, later, reduced the latter into the bare life of invisible biocitizenship. Hence, it can be remarked that postcolonial journeying, despite its apparent dissolution of meta-narratives of identity or cultural geography, underpins the ‘us-versus-them’ binary and proves immobilizing. This means that the open-gate policy cannot wipe out the racist blemish from the West’s reputation since the racism which roots in bodily features (including skin) conducts identity, citizenship, and immigration policies. Hence, racial minorities are always the other, even though their bodies are subject to change.

According to some scholars and philosophers, ethnic identities are the best political, social, economic, ethic (and even aesthetic) alternative to State centralism, which is incapable of dealing with cultural diversity. Ethnic communitarism is then defined as a more authentic, humane, democratic and inclusive form of organization. The Welsh colonies of Chubut (Argentine) and the established Mennonite colonies of the Chaco Region (Paraguay) are two ethnic groups with forms of community life that have been thoroughly studied from different perspectives. However, neither has been analyzed their point of view of alterity or their relation with those who do not belong to the community. In their museums the history of the community is represented, self-images and other people's images are constructed and spread. The interesting part of these stories is not what they say but what they do, the form in which contents are expressed. These communitarian historical museums tell about the pa...

Cristiano Figueiró and Henrique Souza Lima created a track made by sampling, editing, and remixing recordings from a performance made by the Brazilian group Côco de Umbigada (CdU). In this article, Figuerió and Souza Lima contextualize the CdU as a cultural and political agent in the city of Olinda, Brazil, and they describe the choices they made while working with the recorded material. Furthermore, they introduce the app Esmeril, which was used in the production process, as a platform for tweaking recorded audio on the fly. The creative work the two Brazilian sound researchers present here is contextualized through their political understanding of working at the intersections of sound, technology, and cultural heritage.

Africa and its Historical and Contemporary Diasporas edited by Tunde Adeleke and Arno Sonderegger is an interdisciplinary study of the changing and complex nature of the Africa-Black Diaspora relationship. The contributors highlight the problems and challenges of this relationship and provide strategies for developing a more functional and mutually beneficial engagement in a radically changing global environment. This book presents new methodological approaches and research to study the many dimensions and complexities of Africa and its Diasporas. Collectively, this book addresses three vital themes. First, it foregrounds new and emerging forces reshaping the Africa-Black Diaspora nexus. Second, it highlights new and interdisciplinary approaches to "Diaspora" and "Pan-Africanism" (culture, religion, ideology, literature, philosophy, and epistemology). Third, it examines factors infusing the transformation in, and challenges of, African Diaspora and Pan-Africanist collaborations, and possible strategies of strengthening the relationship. The chapters in Africa and its Historical and Contemporary Diasporas provide fresh and insightful perspectives for understanding the complexities and changing dimensions of the African Diaspora, the relationship of Africa to the increasingly diverse and global dimensions of its Diaspora, and reconceptualization of Pan-Africanism in such a way that it effectively captures different aspects of the historical and complicated relationships between Africa and its Diasporas.