Diaspora Studies Research Articles

Virtual Aunts and Uncles: Identity and Community in a Diasporic National Minority

Abstract The past decade has seen mass emigration of Hungarians from Serbia to the kin-state and Western European countries. This has resulted in new ways of understanding what it means to belong to the community, both empirically and in terms of theorizing it, and both for those in Serbia and those abroad. This article claims that there are virtual platforms where members of this ethnic community (re)create their identities, and that this happens through relating to certain common themes. For this reason, I analyze the common themes of two humorous Facebook pages – namely, rurality, food, language use, ethnic others, and crossing borders – popular among Vojvodina Hungarians. The article argues that these elements of identity connect members of the community who live in Vojvodina and those who have emigrated to the kin-state or diaspora. Therefore, in order to unpack the complex dynamics of identification of a national minority community with high diasporic tendencies, an approach that connects the above topics to the concepts of community, nostalgia, home, minority, and borders, and in more general terms the lens of national minority and diaspora studies is needed.

Transformative provenance: memory work in the Palestinian diaspora

Provenance, as the foundational principle of archival studies, dictates that records with the same creator should be organized separately from those of a different creator. This idea of provenance, however, fails to consider different epistemologies of origin. Using an ethnographic study of the Palestinian diaspora in Southeast Michigan, this paper interrogates provenance through Palestinian epistemology and Palestinian futurism to theorize a transformative provenance that positions archival origins as both spatially and temporally unfixed. Rather than rejecting provenance, the concept is a useful departure point to consider how Western understandings of origin and custody can be broadened by other ways of knowing. In this article, I track the origins and custody of memories and stories, the main medium of records in this community, to highlight the culturally specific epistemologies involved in their preservation. I then propose a transformative provenance based on three qualities. First, intergenerational: Chain of custody belongs to both the past and the present, as stories belong to the time of a grandparent’s past exile and a grandchild’s present diaspora. Second, collective: With the spatial referent of memories being lost, ownership is shared within village kinship networks. Third, imaginative: Origins of memories exist in the past, present, and the future, as those in diaspora use memories to imagine future liberation. By grounding this analysis of Palestinian memory work within the community’s conceptualizations of knowledge organization, this paper contributes to current discourse around decolonial recordkeeping, non-Western epistemology, and the management of diaspora archives.

Introduction to the special issue: Asian diaspora theorizing: defying Racism~Re-imagining alternate Nows~Invigorating otherwise futures

ABSTRACT This is an introductory article to Part I of a special issue series entitled, “Asian Diaspora Theorizing: Defying Racism~Re-imagining Alternate Nows~Invigorating Otherwise Futures.” This special issue is a trilogy of our Asian diaspora studies project: Asian diasporas as theories, Asian diasporas as methodologies, and Asian diasporas as praxes. Part II of this special issue will appear in DIME 19(2) in 2025. This special issue features the cutting-edge work of Asian diaspora educational workers who engage in diaspora theorizing, where we rememorize our diaspora histories and critically examine ourselves, our works, and our lives to defy racism, re-imagine alternate nows, and invigorate otherwise futures.

Erotic Black Diaspora

“The Erotic Black Diaspora: From Your Hands to Mine” is a theoretical exploration of how the erotic informs Black feminist politics, kinship, love, and spirituality throughout the African diaspora. Through an interdisciplinary approach rooted in literary studies, history, African and African diaspora studies, women’s and gender studies, and Black queer studies, as well as archival research, a close reading of letters sent to Black feminist, writer, and poet Audre Lorde reveals how the erotic functions within Black feminist spaces, particularly in the late 1970s–mid 1980s. In using Audre Lorde’s definition of the erotic, as she defines it in “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” this paper argues that the Erotic Black Diaspora is a way of reading Black feminist love, language, and action. Recognizing the diversity within Afro-diasporic experiences, the Erotic Black Diaspora privileges the erotic (platonic and/or romantic) feelings and expressions across continents cultivated between same-sex-loving and queer individuals throughout the African diaspora. Positioning Black feminist archives, in particular correspondence sent between Black feminist foremothers, as a counter-archive to institutions of oppression informs one’s understanding of the ethics of Black feminist politics, love, spirituality, and community building.

Indian diaspora, caste and public diplomacy: a study of digital diaspora

ABSTRACT This article critically engages with the conceptual framework of diplomacy and the question of caste. Although Nehruvian foreign policy enunciated the spirit of anti-colonialism, anti-racial discrimination, and anti-imperialism, it failed to uphold anti-caste diplomacy in post-colonial International Relations. The caste system eclipsed Indian foreign policy by treating Dalits as ‘docile bodies’ (Foucault 1979). An increasing role of Indian diaspora in foreign policy discourse has established a new typology of diplomacy, ‘people-to-people’ relations in India’s transnational communication. Long ago, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had warned that although caste is a local problem, if the caste Hindus were to migrate to other regions on the earth, it would become a global problem. In such context, this article examines the role of digital diaspora networks in legislating anti-caste laws and policies in UK, EU, USA, and Canada. Eventually, it provides a perspective on the lack of diplomatic protection for Dalits in the international relations.

Santur-Playing Iranian Americans in Northern California

In Northern California, there are Iranian Americans who play santur, originally a representative instrument of Iranian music. The present article focuses on this community, taking the following issues under consideration: · What are the aesthetic conceptions of Iranian santurs and their sounds, held by santur-playing Iranian Americans in Northern California? · What are the social applications of Iranian santurs in Northern California? Regarding methods, participatory study in the field served as the basis for this work. Partners of the study took part in intensive interviews, and also shared their opinions on various music samples. Literary investigation was also applied, clarifying the necessary historical and social backgrounds. My particular interest in santur led me to conduct this work. An aspect of it lies in underlining of diaspora discourse in ethnomusicology. Although there are strong ties between Iranian santur practitioners in Iran and santur-playing Iranian Americans in Northern California, the latter group has its own distinctive social identity and follows its concerns. Their repertoire goes beyond Iranian music as understood in Iran: it includes folk music and takes influences from neighboring minorities, such as Indian Americans. Regarding social applications of santur in Northern California, this study focuses on two main trends: political motivations, and interest in establishing dialogues with neighboring cultures. In both cases, the role of Radif-inspired improvisation is strongly present. In Northern California, the santur is used by various segments of the society. This practice sometimes goes beyond the Iranian American community. As this study focuses on a specific practice of santur away from the instrument’s original homeland, its outcomes can contribute not only to ethnomusicology, but also to areas of diaspora studies, music history, and such creative directions as music performance and improvisation.

The impact of China’s high-tech repression on Uyghurs: a case study of Uyghur diaspora in Turkiye

ABSTRACT There is a plethora of research on the determinants of state repression. Concomitant with the advancement of technology, there is a growing body of literature on high-tech repression. However, relatively scarce attention has been paid to the impact of high-tech repression on individuals. This study makes a novel contribution to the literature by analysing the impact of China’s high-tech repression in East Turkestan on the identity, beliefs and practices of Uyghurs. We analyse the impact of state surveillance in East Turkestan based on surveys and focus group interviews with members of the Uyghur diaspora (who experienced China’s repressive practices in the region and subsequently migrated to Turkiye) between July and September 2023. The overwhelming majority of the survey respondents indicated that high-tech repression severely reduced their social interactions and cultural practices in East Turkestan and that this repression has negatively affected their view of the Chinese state and technology in general. Most of the respondents indicated that after witnessing this type of repression, they clung more to their national identity. Our focus group interviews provide more in-depth results on the impact of high-tech repression. The participants shared their experiences of how constant surveillance disrupted their daily lives, neighbourly relations, mobility and personal well-being.

Dead Tired

Abstract This essay concerns the descriptions of exhaustion connected to the suicidal thoughts and actions of Anyanwu, the protagonist of Octavia E. Butler’s novel Wild Seed (1980). Expanding the disability studies concept of desirelessness to graze Black diaspora studies, this essay resists the total absorption of enslaved Black women’s suicidal thoughts and actions into the collective political motivations of the living, even as it resists their banishment. Rather than speak authoritatively about an action ultimately undertaken alone, the essay feels for the ordinary edges of the limits of “diaspora” to consider more carefully those who are lost to the collective, those who turn away from it, and those for whom suicide cannot be categorized comfortably as only resistance or defeat. Or, plainly stated: Without purpose and without pity, we can still love you.

Yellow Techno-Peril: The ‘Clash of Civilizations’ and anti-Chinese racial rhetoric in the US–China AI arms race

The rhetoric of an ‘AI arms race’ between the United States and China has become increasingly prominent over the past 5 years, despite warnings that it is unnecessarily polarising and undermines safe and ethical artificial intelligence (AI) development. However, existing critiques of the AI arms race narrative engage only sparingly with the racialised dimensions of this discourse. In this article, I draw on the rich theoretical insights of Asian American and Asian diaspora studies to show how the AI arms race narrative is deeply racialised in two key ways. First, I show how the rhetoric of an AI arms race builds upon the myth of a ‘Clash of Civilizations’ between the West and the East. This civilisational rhetoric constitutes China and the United States as distinct and mutually opposed cultural entities, thus foreclosing the possibility of more peaceful and cooperative alternatives to the AI arms race. Second, I demonstrate how the US–China AI arms race specifically draws on previous racialised configurations of anti-Asian sentiment, such as techno-Orientalism and the Yellow Peril. I coin the term Yellow Techno-Peril to connote how older European and Americans fears of being overrun or controlled by China are reproduced in the AI arms race. I close by offering recommendations to key stakeholders such as policymakers, decisionmakers, journalists and media organisations as to how they can mitigate and avoid the racialised rhetoric of an AI arms race between the United States and China.

Black girlhood media studies: bridging multidisciplinary approaches from old to new media

ABSTRACT Black girlhood media studies provides a space to connect multidisciplinary research across the fields of African American and African Diaspora studies, media studies, gender studies, and communications. With a focus on film, television, and digital media, this essay highlights common themes and approaches of existing scholarship on Black girlhood in media to further understand and contemplate Black girlhood as a media genre. Key themes in prior literature include: adultification and lack of innocence, stereotypes, racial politics, digital media artifacts, and audience perceptions. The essay concludes with suggestions for ways scholars, producers, and consumers can further engage collective cultural representations and varied contexts to build a robust field of Black girlhood media studies.

Imagining home: Mahtab Hussain’s photography of diaspora and belonging

This paper responds to the works of photographers dealing with questions of diaspora, home, and belonging in the context of South Asia. I offer a close reading of the works and practices of Mahtab Hussain, a British-Kashmiri artist, by placing his photographs and practices in conversation with the work of scholars in the field of diaspora studies and educational research. Hussain’s photographic work offers a curriculum: a rewriting, a creation, an imagination, and a retelling of the story of the Azad Kashmiri diaspora and it is told from multiple axes—the homeland, those who moved, and the ways in which this migration impacted the lives of those who stayed back. Ultimately, Hussain’s artistic work invites educational researchers, theorists, and artists to rethink our notions of home, belonging, and diaspora; to imagine otherwise.

Breaking Borders, Bridging Fields: Unveiling the Transculturality of Anti‐Asian Racism in a Global Context

Despite the recent surge in scholarly attention to anti‐Asian racism, what is largely missing in this growing body of literature is a bridge connecting studies on this subject to the broader field of race and ethnicity studies. In this special issue, we propose to use the concept of transculturality, which is defined as the process of cultural interaction, interpenetration, and hybridization that transcends the traditional borders of individual cultures, to establish this connection. In this introductory article, we first critically review the concepts of culture, interculturality, and multiculturality in the studies of race and ethnicity. Upon this review, we explain how transculturality advances the knowledge of racial and ethnic identity, ideas, and practices. This introduction concludes with an overview of each contribution, setting the stage for a comprehensive exploration of this complex and multifaceted issue. Collectively, this special issue aims to not only provide theoretical and empirical insights into the transculturality of anti‐Asian racism but also build a bridge between the studies of the Asian diaspora and the general research on race and ethnicity.

Chinese Migrants in Metropolitan Cities Abroad: Reconsidering Agency, Interactions, and Belonging

At the interface of Chinese diaspora studies, migration studies, and urban studies, this introduction argues for a shift towards city-based migration studies. The city is understood here not as a self-contained social cosmos, but as a globally and socially embedded urban level that opens up a more flexible perspective on the unfolding of migration processes at the micro, meso, and macro levels. It begins with a brief overview of recent trends in Chinese diaspora studies, global migration and urbanisation trends, and debates in critical geography on multi-scale urban theories. Then, it raises the question of the empirical feasibility of such an approach and argues for conceptualising migrants’ agency as a starting point for migration research, rather than pursuing a policy-driven, normative approach. Finally, it presents the five empirical contributions to this Special Issue. They are based on fieldwork in Paris, Berlin, Manchester (UK), Mexico City, Lagos, Gaborone, and Windhoek.

Disability, Space, and Racial Injustice: Life Writing at Angel Island Immigration Station, 1910–1940

Abstract This study integrates race and disability into a literary-historical analysis of the mostly anonymous poetry composed by Chinese migrants and inscribed onto the walls of the men's barracks of the US Immigration Station at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, 1910–1940. Scholarship in Asian American and Asian diaspora studies has approached this body of work as a modern reinvention of traditional Chinese poetic forms within a US context. This study considers the men's barracks a protest space created under disabling conditions of confinement, and it demonstrates how Angel Island detainees critiqued the racialized and ableist systems of social control that operated at the station. The poets attest to undergoing invasive imperial regimes of bodily inspection and medicalized racial exclusion, and they document lived experiences of chronic illness, depression, and the anguished temporality of detention space. As corpus of disabled life writing by early Asian American and Asian diaspora writers, Angel Island poetry offers wider access to non-English historical vocabularies of disability as well as environmental and holistic understandings of embodied conditions beyond Western diagnostic models. As a built environmental archive and a National Historic Landmark, Angel Island is a significant cultural site for exploring how race and disability operate concurrently as social constructions.

The Evolution of the Russian Diaspora in Northeast China (Late 19th – Mid‑20th Centuries)

Based on the fundamental statement that the Russian immigrant community in Northeast China in the late nineteenth – mid-twentieth centuries was a diaspora, this article examines the process of transformation of the nature of the Russian diaspora and the peculiarities of its functioning at certain stages of its existence. The research is based on the conceptual ideas of Imperial and Diaspora Studies. There are four stages of the existence of the Russian diaspora in Manchuria, which differ in the nature of the interaction of Russian immigrants with a foreign cultural environment, due to the sociolegal, economic, and political situation of the diaspora, as well as sociopolitical and sociocultural conditions of the living environment. The Russian immigrant community was formed as an imperial diaspora during the period of Russian domination in Manchuria. Despite the decline of the political and legal status and the marginalization in the early 1920s and later the split into politically antagonistic Soviet and Emigrant colonies, the diaspora retained elements of imperial consciousness and the desire for national and cultural autonomy. In the case of the Soviet colony, this was accompanied by attempts at a new “imperial” expansion in the form of Sovietization of the former alienated zone of the CER. In its turn, focused on the Sinification of the former alienated zone, the policy of the Chinese authorities led to a conflict of interests and hindered the process of integration of Russian immigrants, which was already complicated by the cultural and religious alienation of the living environment. The capture of Manchuria by the Japanese and the creation of the state of Manchukuo, which led to the disappearance of the Soviet colony, actualised the problem of the Russian diaspora’s integration into the multinational community of Manchukuo. Implemented within the framework of the Japanese pan-Asian national policy, the integration led to the strengthening of national defence tendencies and a significant numerical decline of the Russian diaspora. After 1945, the Russian diaspora, which was subjected to political repression, experienced intensive Sovietization and turned into an instrument of Soviet policy in Northeast China. The history of the diaspora ended with mass repatriation and remigration of 1954–1961.

African historiography: Reflections on rewriting the continent's past

African historiography has undergone a transformative journey, evolving from early external narratives shaped by colonial perspectives to contemporary endeavours that seek to reclaim agency in defining the continent's rich and diverse history. This abstract explores the trajectory of African historiography, emphasizing the shifts in methodologies, perspectives, and objectives that have characterized the quest to rewrite the continent's past. Historically, Africa's narrative was predominantly framed by external observers, often influenced by colonial biases and Eurocentric viewpoints. However, over the decades, a vibrant and dynamic field of African historiography has emerged, driven by scholars and intellectuals committed to unveiling authentic African histories. Central to this transformation is the interrogation of oral traditions, archaeological findings, and indigenous knowledge systems, providing a nuanced understanding of the continent's pre-colonial cultures, societies, and achievements. The post-colonial era witnessed a surge in efforts to reclaim Africa's historical narrative from the shadows of distortion and omission. Scholars engaged in the reinterpretation of historical events, challenging prevailing stereotypes and presenting alternative perspectives on key epochs such as ancient civilizations, trans-Saharan trade routes, and pre-colonial political systems. This new wave of historiography has empowered Africans to assert control over their own narratives, fostering a sense of pride and identity rooted in a comprehensive understanding of the past. Moreover, the emergence of diverse theoretical frameworks, such as Afrocentrism and postcolonial theory, has enriched African historiography by providing analytical tools to deconstruct colonial legacies and explore the interconnectedness of African societies. This article also delves into the ongoing debates within the field, including discussions on the integration of oral histories, the role of African diaspora studies, and the challenges posed by limited archival resources.

Oppressive Even As It Inspires

Abstract In this article, we trace the evolution of the connections between Black America and (Black) Europe since the mid-twentieth century and the study thereof. We do so through the lens of ‘Black American centrality,’ referring to the ways in which perceptions of Black America serve as an outsized reference point in European understandings of race, ‘Blackness,’ and Black (European) emancipation struggles. This allows for exploring the dilemmas that the, at times overwhelming, visibility of ‘Black America’ poses to Black Europeans, particularly during the current moment of flourishing Black European culture, politics, and scholarship. In that context, we show how both U.S.- and Europe-based scholars of Black American history and Black European history have approached Black American-European connections differently. The article concludes with suggestions for how these fields can engage with each other to develop academic approaches that account for but do not privilege the position of Black Americans within diasporic exchanges in the North Atlantic region, which is currently an underexplored area in diaspora studies.

Beyond Borders: A Review of Diaspora and Female Immigrant Experience

This article reviews the conceptualization of the diaspora and the inclusion of female immigrants’ experiences in diaspora studies. It surveys the changing notion of diaspora with the inclusion of varied groups of immigrants, including females. Then, it examines the previous research about female immigrants’ experiences, particularly focusing on South Asian female immigrants. Over time, the conceptualization of the diaspora has evolved from a perspective focused on victimhood to a more socially constructed view of identity formation that transcends the binary distinction between home and host countries. This broader conceptualization of diaspora includes various forms of transborder migration and settlement, allowing for a more inclusive examination of the experiences of female immigrants. In the beginning, women immigrants were often equated with male immigrants. However, as time passed, scholars started linking gender concerns with additional factors like social class, nationality, and ethnicity. In this context, the research on the experience of South Asian female immigrants revolves around changing gender roles and family dynamics, including contradictory aspects of whether migration reinforces domination or provides autonomy to South Asian female immigrants.

Recent work on indenture in the British World

AbstractThis article provides an overview of the historiography of indentured labor in the 18th and 19th centuries, along with a brief narrative of the origin and definition of indenture. It traces the evolution of the history of indenture in the “British World” (defined here as the areas under both formal and informal British imperial control) from a neglected field to a major focus of historical study. The final section summarizes the current state of the field, assessing how it has moved beyond its earlier focus on social history, demographics, and diaspora studies to become an entry point for wider discussions about the history of imperialism and colonialism, the global history of capitalism, and the history of networks and exchanges between the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean Worlds.

Diaspora as an ethno-cultural digital communication subject of foreign students in Russia

The article is devoted to the diaspora study as an ethnocultural communication subject of foreign students in the university educational environment, including the development conditions of interaction digital forms (social networks, messengers, the Internet). The main study purpose is to identify the key functions of the ethnic community, the specifics of the diaspora not only as a socio-cultural phenomenon, but also as an active and influential subject which can play a decisive role in communication processes. The authors turn to the analysis of the accumulated theoretical material, cite as an example the results of a sociological study conducted with a questionnaire survey. The results of the sociological study showed that for foreign students who study at universities in a provincial city (Kursk) and a million-plus city (St. Petersburg), the diaspora, as well as the opportunity to be part of it, plays a fundamental role. For students who have come to study in a small town, the diaspora is significant. There they can find help and support, new forms of leisure, obtain enough information about rules and regulations of the new community. Students who arrive to study in a big city experience cultural shock, may be lost and need special support due to a long period of adaptation. The novelty of the sociological research lies in the fact that a comparative analysis of the diasporic significance for foreign students studying in Kursk and in St. Petersburg is given. The obtained data are used to analyse the current situation in the educational environment. In the future it is planned to conduct periodic wave studies to identify changes in the student environment.