Diasporas: Concepts, Intersections, Identities

Description: Despite the increasing importance of the concept of 'diaspora', including its widespread use in academic case studies and in the self-description of a number of minority communities, the subject has to date received relatively little general scholarly treatment. Featuring essays by internationally-renowned scholars from disciplines such as history, religion, political science, geography, sociology, anthropology, postcolonial literature and cultural studies, this timely collection addresses this lack by charting the various ways in which global population movements and associated social, political and cultural issues have been seen through the lens of 'diaspora'. Wide-ranging and interdisciplinary, the book contains examinations of major concepts and theories, including migration, ethnicity and postcolonialism. It also provides introductions to selected key diasporas - from the Russian-Jewish diaspora to the Iranian diaspora in the West - as well as discussions of diaspora in relation to a range of important issues and processes, and explorations of new directions in research. This is an essential text for anyone studying, working or interested in this increasingly vital subject. Review: 'Simultaneously panoramic and precise, this volume offers authoritative, inclusive, yet blessedly focused articles on the terms, concepts, and perspectives that collectively define the field of diaspora studies.' -Professor Khachig Tololyan, Editor, 'Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies' 'As scholarly approaches to Diasporas develop a global profile and span a variety of disciplines, this book provides an incisive account of the state of the art. Its illuminating emphasis on the evolution of theme and concept is enriched by an attention to specific historical events and cultural conditions that makes this work an indispensable companion to global studies.'- Homi K. Bhabha, Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities, Harvard University 'Bringing together an impressive array of distinguished interdisciplinary scholars with wide-ranging perspectives on the cultural and historical significance of contemporary diasporas worldwide, this book provides an essential companion to understanding the complex evolution of concepts of migration and identity and their vital impact on shaping the direction of public and academic debate today. Providing an unusual combination of theory and practice, historical context and case-studies, this book opens several new doors, exposing crucial connections previously eclipsed in this dynamic field' - Professor Susheila Nasta, Open University and Editor of Wasafiri Table of Contents: Introduction - Kim Knott and Sean McLoughlin Part I: Concepts and Theories 1. Exile - Martin Baumann 2. Home and memory - Femke Stock 3. Slavery and the Black Atlantic - David Richardson 4. Migration - Nicholas Van Hear 5. Transnationalism - Peggy Levitt 6. Nation, ethnicity and community - Gerd Baumann 7. Multiculturalism and citizenship - Tariq Modood 8. Postcoloniality - Graham Huggan 9. Hybridity - John Hutnyk 10. Cosmopolitanism - Steven Vertovec 11. Social identities and creolization - Robin Cohen 12. Complex diasporas - Pnina Werbner 13. Space and movement - Kim Knott Part II: Intersections 14. Diasporas and economies - Claire Dwyer 15. Diasporas and politics - Peter Mandaville and Terrence Lyons 16. Diasporas, conflict and security - Simon Turner 17. Diasporas and development - Ben Page and Claire Mercer 18. Diasporas and cities - John Eade 19. Diasporas, race and difference - Claire Alexander 20. Diasporas and gender - Nadje Al-Ali 21. Diasporas and sexuality - Kira Kosnick 22. Diasporas and religion - Manuel Vasquez 23. Diasporas and language - Jaine Beswick 24. Diasporas and material culture - Philip Crang 25. Diasporas, literature and literary studies - Ananya Jahanara Kabir 26. Diasporas and performance - Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo 27. Diasporas, film and cinema - Daniela Berghahn 28. Diasporas and media - Karim H. Karim 29. Diasporas and cyberspace - Victoria Bernal Part III: Empirical and Metaphorical Diasporas 30. South/North relations in the Americas - Alex Stepick, Carol Dutton Stepick and Tricia Vandekooy 31. Movements between 'White' Europe and America: Greek migration to the United States - Anastasia Christou and Russell King 32. The Russian-Jewish diaspora at the beginning of the twenty-first century - Larissa Remmenick 33. The Iranian diaspora in the West - Sanaz Raji 34. How the Japanese diaspora in Brazil became the Brazilian diaspora in Japan - Jeffrey Lesser 35. Migrations within China - Flemming Christiansen 36. Beyond Tibet - Dibyesh Anand 37. Sacred journeys, diasporic lives: Sociality and the religious imagination among Filipinos in the Middle East - Mark Johnson, Claudia Liebelt, Deirdre McKay, Alicia Pingol and Pnina Werbner 38. Muslim travellers: Home, the ummah and British-Pakistanis - Sean McLoughlin 39. Diasporic dialogue among the British in Australia - Sara Wills 40. Diasporic creativity: Refugee intellectuals, exiled poets and corporate cosmopolitanism at the BBC World Service - Marie Gillespie 41. Colonial space-making and hybridizing history, or 'Are the Indians of East Africa Africans or Indians?' - Ato Quayson 42. Transnational musicians' networks across Africa and Europe - Ulrike Hanna Meinhof, Nadia Kiwan and Marie-Pierre Gibert 43. Diasporic readers and the location of reception - James Procter 44. Jews as Rooted Cosmopolitans: The End of Diaspora? - David Shneer and Caryn Aviv Conclusion: New Directions - Sean McLoughlin and Kim Knott Biographies Bibliography Index Author Biography: Kim Knott is professor of religious studies at the University of Leeds, UK, and director of Diasporas, Migration and Identities, a programme funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) that has brought scholars together from all over Britain and from a wide range of disciplines. She has worked on South Asian religious diasporas, particularly British Hindus, and on migration, ethnicity and identity, with publications including Hindus in Leeds, My Sweet Lord: The Hare Krishna Movement, and Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction. In conjunction with government and voluntary sector partners she has researched issues of religious and ethnic diversity and representation. In The Location of Religion: A Spatial Analysis and later articles, she has developed a spatial methodology for researching places, bodies and organisations in which controversies occur about matters of sacred concern, whether religious, secular or postsecular. Sean McLoughlin is senior lecturer in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds, UK. Trained in the study of religion, Islam and anthropology, he is an expert on various aspects of South Asian heritage Muslims in Britain and has worked on a number of public projects, as well as giving invited lectures across Europe and in the United States. Co-editor of European Muslims and the Secular State, most recently he was principal investigator on an AHRC Diasporas' network, From Diaspora to Multi-Locality: Writing British-Asian Cities (2006-9). A related co-edited volume, Writing the City in British-Asian Diasporas, is in preparation, as is a single-authored book, Representing Muslims: Religion, Diaspora and the Politics of Identity.