Diaspora activism in a non-traditional country of destination: the Gülen Movement in Czechia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Diaspora groups have increasingly become active and influential transnational actors, whose mobilization strategies react to strategic opportunities and constraints. The article explores how the GM diaspora embeddedness in specific contexts affected the trajectory of its transnational mobilization. It argues that the Turkish EU candidacy status, the rise of the AKP-GM alliance and the Czech accession to the EU created new opportunity structures for the GM in Czechia but they could not maintain the momentum the critical juncture opened in the Czech public debate due to the closing opportunity structures in Czechia. Their political activism has also been undermined by the strategically selective state-led transnationalism and heavy transnational repression, which intensified the interdependency between transnationalization and localization of the GM activities. The article contributes to the study of state-led transnationalism in deeply polarized societies and its impact on diaspora activism before and after a critical juncture.