Usage of the concept of diaspora has become quite commonplace in the early 21st century, both to explain the presence of refugees and migrant groups in unpredictable places and to define the relationship between immigrant groups and the places from which they migrated.
Not surprisingly then, the term is now often used interchangeably with the notion of immigrant communities. This entry discusses the changing definitions of diaspora, the major debates about its methodological and analytical value, and the ways in which the concept is being used within various disciplinary frameworks.
Since its introduction into social science scholarship between World Wars I and II, the term diaspora has remained politically contentious and is intimately linked to and shaped by questions of power, identity politics, and nationalism.
In its most basic sense, the concept of diaspora refers to changing relationships between space, time, and place in relation to notions of identity, belonging, and lived experience. Diaspora is often used to describe groups of persons who are displaced or exiled in relation to a specific nation-state and who feel that they share an ethnicity, culture, community, and traditions with and have some kind of relationship [Page ] to a perceived homeland.
Related concepts such as race, collective memory, exile, home, national identity, political consciousness, physical territory, ethnic community, and borders are central to understandings of diaspora. These definitions emerge from different historical contexts and offer different frameworks regarding how diasporas are produced, as well as the outcomes of such developments for the homeland, which is the point of reference.
