Diaspora

Usage of the concept of diaspora has become quite commonplace in the early 21st century, both to explain the presence of refugees and migrant groups in unpredictable places and to define the relationship between immigrant groups and the places from which they migrated. Not surprisingly then, the term is now often used interchangeably with the notion of immigrant communities. The implicit assumption is that to be an immigrant is to “be in diaspora,” that is, located far away from some specific “home” that was left behind and to which one retains some attachment, whether sentimental, political, or cultural. This way of specifying the existence of “diaspora” (and presumably, the nonexistence as well) is relatively new, emerging in the last three decades amid heightening concerns—among both national governments and scholars—about the interrelationship between globalization, shifting global relations of power, and the political and economic well-being of immigrant communities in countries of the global North. This entry discusses the changing definitions of diaspora, the major debates about its methodological and analytical value, and the ways in which the concept is being used within various disciplinary frameworks.