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Rethinking 'Babylon' : iconoclastic conceptions of the diasporic experience
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Cohen, Robin (1995) Rethinking 'Babylon' : iconoclastic conceptions of the diasporic experience. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Vol.21 (No.1). pp. 5-18. doi:10.1080/1369183X.1995.9976469 ISSN 1369-183X.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.1995.9976469
Abstract
The word ‘diaspora’ is closely associated with enslavement, exile and loneliness. A people is seen to be scattered as a result of a traumatic historical event. Contrary to this assumption, a closer examination of the provenance of the classical diasporas, Jewish and Greek, reveal a degree of voluntarism in their patterns of out‐migration, or a mix of impelled and colonising migration. Although the idea of a ‘victim diaspora’ can be sustained in the case of the Armenians and Africans, other experiences are more ambiguous or benign. Indeed, diasporas can be seen as galvanising a new creative energy outside the natal homeland. In the modern period the force of excluding nationalisms often generated counter‐nationalist or return movements among diasporic groups. However, the current period of globalisation has enhanced the practical, economic and affective role of diasporas, raising the possibility that they may become alternative or parallel foci of loyalty to the nation‐state.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Emigration and immigration, Population transfers, Transnationalism, Globalization | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies | ||||
Publisher: | Routledge | ||||
ISSN: | 1369-183X | ||||
Official Date: | January 1995 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Vol.21 | ||||
Number: | No.1 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 5-18 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1080/1369183X.1995.9976469 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Version or Related Resource: | Reprinted in: Cohen, R. (1999). Rethinking Babylon: iconoclastic conceptions of the diaspora experience. In: Vertovec, S. and Cohen, R., eds. Migration, diasporas and transnationalism. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 252–65. |
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