Page 177 - Encyclopedia Of World History

diasporas 527

History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are
and why we are the way we are. • David C. McCullough (b. 1946)

eral application of the term than was common a half- and sustain powerful myths about their homelands,
century ago, when only forced migrations of victims which they typically idealize.These memories in turn gen-
were considered to create diasporas. erate dreams of a return to that homeland. Diasporas are
Scholars’ extension of diaspora to cover merchants, thus characterized by strong group consciousness that is
laborers, and even empire builders may be the result of sustained over many years, generations, or even centuries.
general scholarly unease with theories of assimilation and Diasporas typically have somewhat difficult relationships
of ethnic group formation among the mobile. Since the with the societies in which they make their homes, and
1930s, discussions of assimilation and the creation of their members typically maintain at least a minimal
ethnic groups have taken place mainly within the context sense of solidarity with their co-ethnics or coreligionists
of the history of immigration into countries such as the in other parts of the world. Diasporic consciousness also
United States. In the past, it was widely assumed that all seems to be positively associated with cultural creativity;
migrants were immigrants who abandoned ties to their the distinctive music, art, or literature of a diaspora may
homelands, along with their ethnic identities, as they be regarded positively by majority populations and at the
found full incorporation into host societies. same time may reinforce the sense of distinctiveness of
Discussions of multiculturalism in popular discourse, those creating it.
like scholarly broadening of the term diaspora, may have In short, diasporas seem to be characterized not so
helped to point out positive elements of cultural plural- much by the experience of forced migration as by a will
ism and the persistence of ethnic identities among the to survive and to resist full assimilation into host soci-
descendants of migrants. Earlier assumptions about eties, even when that option is open. A strong sense of
assimilation and its relation to human identity now strike shared history—often reinforced by experiences such as
many as too simple. Not only are individual identities exile, persecution, or local hostility—can be reproduced
understood to be more complex than was the case a cen- over time within families, ethnic institutions, and through
tury ago, but cultural diversity is now viewed more pos- cultural production. This sense of shared history allows
itively. In addition, recent theorists of transnationalism people in North America to feel a sense of solidarity with
have suggested that the ease of travel and of communi- people of similar origins who may live in South America,
cation in the contemporary world will likely facilitate the Australia, Europe or Asia. Ultimately, then, diasporas are
formation of diasporas among the 150 million migrants products of history. It is the passage of time that deter-
in today’s world. mines which mobile populations and which ethnic
Nevertheless, recent studies of diasporas do suggest the groups will become and remain diasporas.
usefulness of insisting on a number of shared character-
Donna R. Gabaccia
istics that differentiate diasporas from ethnic groups gen-
erally. Most studies of diasporas, for example, focus on See also Asian Migrations; Expansion, European; Global
migrations that scatter in multiple directions, creating far- Migration in Modern Times; Migrations; Pacific, Settle-
flung and rather extensive transnational social networks. ment of
As a result we find few references to a Mexican diaspora.
However important and undeniable their ties to Mexico Further Reading
and the strength of their many transnational social and Armstrong, J. A. (1976). Mobilized and proletarian diasporas. American
cultural activities, the vast majority of Mexicans over the Political Science Review, 20(2), 393–408.
Boyarin, J. (1992). Storm from paradise: The politics of Jewish memory.
past two centuries have migrated to only one country— Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
the United States. Chaliland, G. (1983). The Armenians: From genocide to resistance. Lon-
don: Zed Books.
While ethnic groups may be temporary social forma-
Chaliand, G., & Rageau, J.-P. (1995). The Penguin atlas of diasporas.
tions among the migratory, diasporas maintain memories New York: Viking Press.