Gender Diaspora and International Women's Movements

This chapter outlines the psychological or affective characterizations of diaspora in relation to gender. The chapter provides a brief literature review in gender studies and diaspora, including the concept of intersectionality. The chapter discusses the #MeToo movement in terms of women feeling like strangers in their own homes (or homelands) as well as from a traditional diasporic definition features ethnographical research in the form of interviews with Middle Eastern women who inhabit the Muslim diaspora in the United States. The interviews are used to highlight real-world experiences of diaspora and the affective impact of diaspora politics, and the building of diasporic networks.

Citizenship and Diasporic Politics

This chapter introduces readers to classical and contemporary definitions of citizenship, the development of the nation-state, and the concept of national identity as well as other forms of identity construction. The chapter also focuses on diaspora literature and introducing the classical and contemporary characterizations of diaspora and theories on diaspora politics. Concepts such as hybridity and transnationalism are briefly presented as these concepts feed into the contemporary definitions of diaspora, which are less focused on a place of origin or homeland attachment. The chapter also delves into the Othering of national politics toward diasporic communities, providing examples from recent American policy.

Territorial Diaspora Politics

This chapter focuses on the classical or traditional definition of diaspora as it relates to a place of origin and/or an attachment to a homeland (whether real or perceived). The chapter highlights theories of classical diaspora and provides an in-depth analysis into the contemporary Kurdish situation of statelessness and increased claims to land (due to their involvement with the fight against the Islamic State). The chapter also makes brief mention of the other prominent case of contemporary diaspora politics in the Middle East, that of the Palestinians. The chapter explains the struggle of the Kurds to self-determination and to establish an autonomous state, and highlights the adoption and use of digital technologies by diasporic communities, which allows for the facilitation of diasporic communities and networks that transcend traditional borders.

Methodological Considerations and Explanation of Case Studies

This chapter examines various definitions of diaspora and how the characterization of diaspora has evolved over time and through adoption in fields beyond international relations. The chapter provides an explanation on historical institutionalism, which is adopted by the author to explain the selected case studies as well as provides greater insight into the social movement and symbolic interactionism theories of Herbert Blumer, which are used widely in diaspora studies and sociological theories on identity construction. The chapter provides justification for the author's use of qualitative analysis and methods of researching diaspora.

Connecting Diasporic Threads and Suggestions for Future Research

This chapter summarizes the classical (or old) and psychological/affective (or new) characterization of diaspora and the establishment of diasporic communities in the modern age. The chapter provides greater insight into the role of the nation-state in diasporic relations in the contemporary transnational community. The author provides suggestions for future research on diaspora and diasporic political mobilization and recommends a greater focus on comparative analysis of diasporic communities which would provide for an increased awareness of the differences among diasporas and the struggles those communities face in both homeland and host country.

New (and Networked) Social Movement Literature

This chapter provides a summary of new social movement literature, with a particular focus on the phases that social movements progress through as well as the tools (namely digital) that are being used to establish diaspora (as well as social movement) networks across the international community and provide for mobilization. The chapter particularly focuses on the theories of Herbert Blumer (Life Cycle of Social Problems) and Martin Sökefeld, who writes about mobilization of various diasporic communities using social movement theory. The chapter also focuses on identity theories and the importance of developing of collective identities for effective mobilization of movement communities (diasporic and social movement).