Page 174 - Encyclopedia Of World History

524 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Chain Migration

A characteristic of much migration throughout history had each from $400 to $500, the proceeds of their
is what is called chain migration in which recent labour in the mines of B.C. One of the above-
arrivals are encouraged to come and settle with people mentioned happy-go-lucky Johns, informed us that
from the same village, town, or region in the sending with the $500 in cash, he could live in China for five
nation already in the host nation.This is especially true or six years....Two of the Johns intended returning
for the large Chinese worldwide diaspora which often in the spring, bringing their families of female Johns
produced new Chinese communities based on old ties and demi-Johns with them and they all speak of a
in the host nations.The following example is of the Chi- rush from China to this country is sure to occur, dur-
nese community inVictoria, British Columbia, Canada. ing the months of February, March and April of next
year.
When some Chinese miners struck pay dirt in British
When the returned Chinese arrived home, they
Columbia, they immediately returned to their home
would help their relatives and friends migrate to
villages in China, bringing with them the exciting
Gim Shan. Once the latter had settled down in
news of another Gim Shan (Gold Mountains) in
British Columbia, they then would help their own
North America. In 1859, for example, a local news-
relatives and friends to emigrate. Thus, throughout
paper correspondent interviewed some returning Chi-
the early 1860s, clipper ships—notably Hebe, Law-
nese and wrote:
son, Leonidas, and Frigate Bird—brought hundreds
The American bark Sea Nymph Stege sailed yester-
of Chinese immigrants directly to Victoria from
day for Hong Kong . . . with a cargo of lumber and
Hong Kong or China. In those days, shipping
twelve Chinamen, homeward bound passengers
agents usually arranged large group sailings so that
from this port. These passengers are stated to have
the Chinese passengers would pay a lower fare and

Pan-African movements among New World residents of even in the African, Armenian, Jewish, Palestinian, or
African descent focused on ending European colonialism Irish diasporas. Scholars have acknowledged that ele-
in Africa and racial oppression in the Americas. These ments of coercion and choice figure in the lives of most
movements linked activists in the Caribbean, the United mobile persons. The willingness to use diaspora for
States, and Africa. Even after the collapse of Europe’s analysis of a broader range of migrations also reflects the
empires in Africa after World War II and the abandon- recognition that attachment to a distant homeland is not
ment of legal and institutionalized forms of racial discrim- limited to exiles and refugees. The fact that many in the
ination in the United States and South Africa, experiences Jewish and African diasporas have shown little interest in
of racial prejudice continue to nurture an attachment to returning to their ancestral homelands also suggests how
Africa among persons of African descent. Few have any problematic it is to distinguish vigorously among descen-
intention of returning to Africa, however, even though the dants of forced and voluntary migrants.
formation of independent African nations after 1950 In the mid-1990s, the sociologist Robin Cohen sought
made that option more plausible than ever before. to summarize changing use of the term by suggesting
a typology of diasporas. Cohen distinguished between
Recent Changes in the victim diasporas—such as the Jewish and Armenian
Meaning of Diaspora diasporas—and those formed as people voluntarily left
In a controversial development, scholars in recent years their homeland to look for work (labor diasporas), estab-
have begun to consider the possibility that other migra- lish colonies (imperial diasporas), or engage in com-
tions, too, can create diasporas. In part this change merce (trade diasporas). Cohen encouraged scholars to
reflects scholarly appreciation of the difficulties of distin- debate the characteristics shared by all diasporas and to
guishing definitively between forced and free migrations identify those characteristics that differentiated diasporas