Center for Global Studies

Global Migration and Transnational Politics Series

 

The Global Migration & Transnational Politics project at CGS is a MacArthur Foundation funded project that investigates how political dynamics around the globe have been transformed by new patterns of human mobility and the development of innovative transnational social networks. Below is a selection of working papers on the issue.

 

 

 

 

Working Paper no. 1: Lyons, T. and P. Mandaville, "Global Migration and Transnational Politics: A Conceptual Framework"

This paper outlines an analytical framework to examine questions regarding the ramifications of global migration on transnational politics. As globalization has generated new forms of political participation of increasingly mobile and transnational populations, the authors analyze how this has transformed homeland governments’ politics. They argue that these political processes, despite their particularist territorial and normative content, occur in multiple localities due to the complex actor constellation.

 

Working Paper no. 2: Cochrane, F. "Mediating the Diaspora Space: Charting the Changing Nature of Irish-America in an Age of Globalisation"

The author looks at how Irish migration trends have evolved in light of globalization and economic and social changes in Ireland. He argues that these factors have generated a new form of Irish emigrants whose characteristics differ from the traditional diaspora communities. The fact that Irish leave their country for the United States voluntarily, rather than compulsorily – as seen in the 19th and 20th century – creates less demand for support groups abroad, prevalent in the past.

 

Working Paper no. 3: Fitzgerald, D. "Citizenship à la Carte"

From a comprehensive perspective, immigrants are also emigrants, leaving their country of origin for a new destination where they settle. The author of this paper analyzes changes in the relationship of emigrants and their home governments as the latter attempts to negotiate a new form of citizenship. He discusses the limitations and prospects of these reconfigured ties in view of altering the theoretical underpinnings of the nation-state paradigm.

 

Working Paper no. 4: Williams, H. "From Visibility to Voice:
The Emerging Power of Migrants in Mexican Politics"

In her paper, Heather Williams looks at the Federación de Clubes Zacatecanos del Sur de California (FCZSC), an umbrella organization of village-based clubs corresponding to locales in the northwest Mexican state of Zacatecas, and argues that this influential federation of Mexican migrants in the U.S. is an instructive showcase to illuminate the formation and negotiation of transnational political identity. She concludes that migrant participation in home country affairs is a new innovative practice of 21st century democracy.

 

Working Paper no. 5: Harpviken, K. B. "From 'Refugee Warriors' to 'Returnee Warriors' - Militant Homecoming in Afghanistan and Beyond"

Certain refugees, when returning to their home countries, do not necessarily reintegrate peacefully, but engage in violent action. Kristian B. Harpviken illuminates the phenomenon of “refugee warrior” by looking at thirty years of armed conflict in Afghanistan and examining three explanatory variables: an enabling environment, ideology, and organization. His objective is to help generate a comprehensive analytical framework of this trend and establish an agenda for future research.

 

Working Paper no. 6: Waterbury, Myra A."From Irredentism to Diaspora Politics:
States and Transborder Ethnic Groups in Eastern Europe"

This paper looks at Eastern European transborder and ethnic diasporas politics in the post-Cold War decades. The author argues that governments in this region implement policies that are often driven by the nation-building interests of homeland state elites and therefore have the potential to exacerbate regional and inter-ethnic tensions. She illustrates these dynamics through a discussion of two policy areas - dual and preferential citizenship, and packages of special benefits targeted specifically to regional diasporas; and their implications for regional stability and the situation of ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe.

 

Working Paper no. 7: Hall, Jonathan and Roland Kostic, "Does Integration Encourage Reconciliatory Attitudes among Diasporas?"

This study raises examines the effects of hostland integration on the moderation of attitudes of conflict-generated diasporas. Using unique survey data of diasporas from the former Yugoslavia and living in Sweden, their study highlights the complex relationship between the integration of diasporas and their reconciliatory attitudes. The findings indicate that structural integration, through the mechanism of a higher sense of coherence, empowers diasporas to contextualize war-related experiences and make sense of daily life, as well as to develop optimism about prospects for a common future with other ethnic groups in both the host- and homeland.

 

Working Paper no. 8: Salzbrunn, Monika, "Glocal Migration and Transnational Politics:
The Case of Senegal"

The increasing migration of Senegalese peasants not only to urban areas, but also to international destinations has reinforced the creation of translocal social spaces. Past research on Senegalese migration has focused on murid trade networks that share job and trade opportunities through their religious ties. In her study, Monika Salzbrunn enlarges the question of religious networks, underlining the will for political change that has unified the followers of different Sufi and Christian groups.

 

Working Paper no. 9: Koinova, Maria, "Conditions and Timing of Moderate and Radical Diaspora Mobilization: Evidence from Conflict-Generated Diasporas"

Radical and moderate diaspora activities depend on the stages of conflict, on the timing of events relative to developments in the homeland, and on the diaspora initiatives and actions of host-land governments. Based on extensive research among conflict-generated diasporas — Albanians, Armenians, Lebanese, Serbians, Ukrainians, and Chechens predominantly living in the U.S. —  this paper argues that academics and policy-makers alike need to revisit the notion that diasporas are not likely agents of moderate transnational politics.

 

Working Paper no. 10: Ragazzi, Francesco, "The Invention of the Croatian Diaspora:
Unpacking the Politics of “Diaspora” During the War in Yugoslavia"

The Croatian “diaspora” is an invention of the 1990’s. This paper highlights several simple yet often overlooked insights about the role of diasporas in international relations and conflicts. It argues that “diasporas” are not agents of international politics. Instead, organizations and institutions representing them take on this role. Yet, they are far from being unitary actors. The author also shows that the label of “diaspora” can be appropriated by a government to push policies that have little to do with the “diaspora,” justifing national policies that would otherwise be considered illegitimate.

 

Back to Publications