Diaspora, Identity and Religion: New Directions in Theory and Research (Transnationalism)

222 Pages·2004·1.127 MB·English

by  Waltraud Kokot

Diaspora, Identity and
Religion
Over the last decade, concepts of diaspora and locality have gained complex new
meanings in political discourse as well as in social and cultural studies. Diaspora,
in particular, has acquired new meanings relating to notions such as global
deterritorialization, transnational migration and cultural hybridity.
This evolution seems to imply that locality is no longer a relevant point of
reference for collective identities. This book, however, argues that locality has not
lost its meaning entirely. It claims that, although diasporas transcend boundaries,
they remain sited, and space and place thus remain important points of reference.
Diaspora and locality, rather than being opposed or contradictory, are interrelated.
The authors discuss the key concepts and theory, focusing on the meaning of
religion both as a factor in forming diasporic social organizations, as well as in
shaping and maintaining diasporic identities, and the appropriation of space and
place in history. It includes up-to-date research of the Caribbean, Irish, Armenian,
African and Greek diasporas.
Waltraud Kokot is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the
University of Hamburg, Germany. Khachig Tölölyan is Professor of English at
the Wesleyan University, USA. Carolin Alfonso is a researcher at the Institute
for Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Hamburg, Germany.
Transnationalism
Series editor: Steven Vertovec
University of Oxford
‘Transnationalism’ broadly refers to multiple ties and interactions linking people
or institutions across the borders of nation-states. Today myriad systems of
relationship, exchange and mobility function intensively and in real time while
being spread across the world. New technologies, especially involving tele-
communications, serve to connect such networks. Despite great distances and
notwithstanding the presence of international borders (and all the laws, regulations
and national narratives they represent), many forms of association have been
globally intensified and now take place paradoxically in a planet-spanning yet
common arena of activity. In some instances transnational forms and processes
serve to speed-up or exacerbate historical patterns of activity, in others they
represent arguably new forms of human interaction. Transnational practices and
their consequent figurations of power are shaping the world of the twenty-first
century.
This book forms part of a series of volumes describing and analyzing a range
of phenomena surrounding this field. Serving to ground theory and research on
‘globalization’, the Routledge book series on ‘Transnationalism’ offers the latest
empirical studies and ground-breaking theoretical works on contemporary socio-
economic, political and cultural processes which span international boundaries.
Contributions to the series are drawn from Sociology, Economics, Anthropology,
Politics, Geography, International Relations, Business Studies and Cultural Studies.
The series is associated with the Transnational Research Programme of the
Economic and Social Research Council (see http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk).
The series consists of two strands:
Transnationalism aims to address the needs of students and teachers and these
titles will be published in hardback and paperback. Titles include:
Culture and Politics in the Information Age
A new politics?
Edited by Frank Webster
Transnational Democracy
Political spaces and border crossings
Edited by James Anderson
Routledge Research in Transnationalism is a forum for innovative new research
intended for high-level specialist readership, and the titles will be available in
hardback only. Titles include:
1 New Transnational Social Spaces
International migration and transnational companies in the early 21st century
Edited by Ludger Pries
2 Transnational Muslim Politics*
Reimmagining the Umma
Peter G. Mandaville
3 New Approaches to Migration?
Transnational communities and the transformation of home
Edited by Nadje Al-Ali and Khalid Koser
4 Work and Migration
Life and livelihoods in a globalizing world
Edited by Ninna Nyberg Sorensen and Karen Fog Olwig
5 Communities across Borders
New immigrants and transnational cultures
Edited by Paul Kennedy and Victor Roudometof
6 Transnational Spaces
Edited by Peter Jackson, Phil Crang and Claire Dwyer
7 The Media of Diaspora
Edited by Karim H. Karim
8 Transnational Politics
Turks and Kurds in Germany
Eva Østergaard-Nielsen
9 Culture and Economy in the Indian Diaspora
Edited by Bhikhu Parekh, Gurharpal Singh and Steven Vertovec
10 International Migration and Globalization
Edited by Rey Koslowski
11 Gender in Transnationalism
Home, longing and belonging among Moroccan migrant women
Ruba Salih
12 State/Nation/Transnation
Perspectives and transnationalism in the Asia–Pacific
Edited by Brenda S. A. Yeoh and Katie Willis
13 Transnational Activism in Asia
Problems of power and democracy
Edited by Nicola Piper and Anders Uhlin
14 Diaspora, Identity and Religion
New directions in theory and research
Edited by Waltraud Kokot, Khachig Tölölyan and Carolin Alfonso
15 Cross-border Governance in the European Union
Edited by Oliver Thomas Kramsch and Barbara Hooper
*Also available in paperback
Diaspora, Identity and
Religion
New directions in theory and
research
Edited by
Waltraud Kokot,
Khachig Tölölyan and
Carolin Alfonso
First published 2004
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004.
© 2004 Waltraud Kokot, Khachig Tölölyan and Carolin Alfonso for
selection and editorial matter; individual contributors their contributions
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Diaspora, identity and religion : new directions in theory and research
edited by Waltraud Kokot, Khachig Tölölyan and Carolin Alfonso.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Emigration and immigration. 2. Ethnic relations–Political aspects.
3. Group identity. 4. Religious minorities. 5. Space and time–Social
aspects. I. Kokot, Waltraud. II. Tölölyan, Khachig. III. Alfonso, Carolin,
1969–
JV6091.D53 2003
304.8´09–dc22 2003021155
ISBN 0-203-40105-0 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-34128-7 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–30991–3(Print Edition)
Contents vii
Contents
List of contributors ix
Introduction 1
WALTRAUD KOKOT, KHACHIG TÖLÖLYAN AND
CAROLIN ALFONSO
1 Deconstructing and comparing diasporas 9
WILLIAM SAFRAN
PART I
Politics, history and locality 31
2 ‘Too close for comfort’: re-membering the forgotten
diaspora of Irish women in England 33
BREDA GRAY
3 Place, movement and identity: processes of inclusion and
exclusion in a ‘Caribbean’ family 53
KAREN FOG OLWIG
4 Why locality matters: diaspora consciousness and sedentariness
in the Armenian diaspora in Greece 72
SUSANNE SCHWALGIN
5 Past and present in the history of modern Greek diaspora 93
IANNIS HASSIOTIS
6 Griots, roots and identity in the African diaspora 102
HAUKE DORSCH
viii Contents
7 The invention of history in the Irish-American diaspora:
myths of the Great Famine 117
ASTRID WONNEBERGER
PART II
Diasporic aspects of religion 131
8 Religion or culture? Concepts of identity in the
Alevi diaspora 133
MARTIN SÖKEFELD
9 A double minority: notes on the emerging Yezidi diaspora 156
ANDREAS ACKERMANN
10 A diachronic view of diaspora, the significance of
religion and Hindu Trinidadians 170
MARTIN BAUMANN
11 Let it flow: economy, spirituality and gender in the Sindhi network 189
DIETER HALLER
Index 205
List of contributors ix
Contributors
Andreas Ackermann is a researcher and academic leader at the University of
Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
Carolin Alfonso is a researcher at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthro-
pology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
Martin Baumann is Professor of History of Religions at the University of
Bremen, Germany.
Hauke Dorsch is a researcher at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthro-
pology, University of Bayreuth, Germany.
Breda Gray is Professor of Women’s Studies at the Irish Centre for Migration
Studies, University College, Cork, Ireland.
Dieter Haller is a researcher at the Institute of Ethnology of Europe at the
University of Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder, Germany.
Iannis Hassiotis is Professor of History at the Aristotle University, Thessaloniki,
Greece.
Waltraud Kokot is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Institute
of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
Karen Fog Olwig is Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Anthropology,
University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
William Safran is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for
Comparative Politics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA.
Susanne Schwalgin is a researcher at the Institute for Intercultural Pedagogy,
University of Münster, Germany.
Martin Sökefeld is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Social
and Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg, Germany.
Khachig Tölölyan is Professor of English at Wesleyan University, Middletown,
CT, USA and editor of Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies.
Astrid Wonneberger is a researcher at the Institute of Social and Cultural
Anthropology, University of Hamburg, Germany.